Hurn Court Opera has come a long way since its creation by founder Lynton Atkinson in 2017. Established to showcase the talents of emerging singers on the threshold of their careers, La Traviata is the latest offering from this flourishing Dorset-based enterprise.
Verdi described his 1853 tragedy as ‘a subject for our age’. Indeed, its narrative of the ‘fallen woman’ (derived from Alexandre Dumas’s play La Dame aux Camélias) could be for any age. And within the context of 19th-century Parisian bourgeois morality, our ‘fallen woman’, who lived only for pleasure, would have shocked and thrilled early audiences. Today, of course, her perceived liberté has no shameful or revolutionary colouring, no shock value, but prompts admiration and sympathy in equal measure, elevating Violetta to one of opera’s great heroines.
Director Joy Robinson opts for a non-interventionist approach avoiding contemporary riffs on freedom, gratification or redemption, and allows the music and narrative to speak for itself. With Michael Harts’s fixtures and fittings, this Traviata is updated to the 1930s, Violetta’s Parisian salon and rural retreat conjured by a chaise longue and handsome art nouveau designs, with stylish costumes provided by students from Arts University Bournemouth.
I caught this production on the third and final leg of HCO’s mini-tour across Dorset and Hampshire, and what impressed most was the confidence and chemistry from an exceptional cast. Indeed, the success of this production arose from clearly defined performances that held the ear and eye throughout its emotionally charged trajectory. And emotions were supplied in spades by prize-winning soprano Caroline Taylor, who was a peerless Violetta, although it was sometimes hard to imagine a character, supposedly ravaged with consumption, who looked a picture of health, positively blooming in her five-month pregnancy. Yet, throughout the evening, she possessed a natural stage presence and poured everything into this complex role, bringing out the ill-fated courtesan’s determination, fragility and passion with total professionalism. She dispatched her Act 1 set piece with style (and flawless pyrotechnics), later sculpting a fine legato when renouncing her beau. Her death bed ‘Addio del passato’ was utterly involving, combining defiance and dignity as she huddled in the arms of a devastated Alfredo.
As Violetta’s beloved, Sam Britner was no less persuasive, getting into his stride early on with a rousing “Brindisi” and an emphatic ‘O mio rimorso!’. Desperation and bitterness were unmistakable in the gambling episode and there was no denying his grief in the closing scene. At just 21, Britner’s Verdian credentials impress with well-shaped phrases even if one occasionally might like him to dial down the volume. As Giorgio Germont, Alfredo’s father, Philip Kalmanovitch gave a coldly moralistic portrayal in ‘Pura siccome un angelo’, initially somewhat woolly but later bringing more distinct tones in his duet.
Among the finely sung supporting roles there was some discreetly realised characterisations from Verdi’s trio of aristos; Massimo Modoni (Baron Douphol), William Pearson (Viscount Gaston) and William Costello (Marquis d’Obigny), while Sian Meinir and Phoebe Raynor acquitted themselves admirably as Annina and Flora Bervoix. Dominic Felts, as Doctor Grenvil, also left a favourable impression. Not least was a modest-sized chorus of eight singers who bought ample tone to their contributions.
In the pit, Lynton Atkinson teased out much gratifying detail from the Hurn Court Orchestra, the dozen players making the most of Jonathan Lyness’s reduced orchestration. But the night belonged to Caroline Taylor, whose sovereign performance crowned an evening of remarkable singing.
David Truslove
La Traviata
Music: Guiseppe Verdi
Libretto: Francesco Piave
Cast and production team:
Violetta Valéry – Caroline Taylor; Alfredo Germont – Sam Britner; Giorgio Germont – Philip Kalmanovitch; Flora Bervoix – Phoebe Raynor; Viscount Gaston – William Pearson; Baron Douphol – Massimo Modoni; Marquis d’Obigny – William Costello; Dr Grenvil – Dominic Felts; Annina – Erin Fflur
Director & Lighting – Joy Robinson; Designer – Michael Hart; Costumes – students from Arts University Bournemouth; Hurn Court Orchestra; Conductor & Musical Director– Lynton Atkinson
Theatre Royal, Winchester, 20 April 2026
All photos © Hurn Court Opera