La Traviata/Mazeppa

Edward Greenfield [The Guardian, 23 August 2005]

After the disappointment of the new Mozart opera productions at this year's Salzburg festival, Willi Decker's staging of Verdi's La Traviata must be counted a triumph. Admittedly, it is based on a gimmick, with no scenery in Wolfgang Gussmann's designs, just a plain semicircular white wall across the expanse of the Grosses Festspielhaus stage, and props limited to a few settees and a large clock. Also, the chorus, women as well as men, are dressed throughout in severe black lounge suits, acting in a block.