New Jersey Opera Theater offers a trimmed-down but still intense and impressive ‘La Traviata’

ANNA LARRANAGA

From left, Charles Schneider as Germont, Jax Hassler as Alfredo, Ky Montez as Violetta, Jay Gould as the Dottore and Kelly Wenz as Annina in New Jersey Opera Theater’s “La Traviata.”

Almost everything went right at New Jersey Opera Theater’s new production of “La Traviata,” Giuseppe Verdi’s tragic opera of love and loss, May 18 at The Union County Performing Arts Center in Rahway.

The passionate performance was led by a stylish and assured vocal trio: Ky Montez as Violetta Valéry, Jax Hassler as Alfredo Germont, and Charles Schneider as Giorgio Germont. Conductor Richard Nechamkin led a small ensemble of musicians (with instruments including the venue’s historic organ), giving the work an unusual fire and directness of feeling that was thrilling and intense.

The performance wrapped the second season of UCPAC’s in-house opera program, launched in 2023 by founder and artistic director Joseph Mayon. In the two years since it was founded, the opera company has managed to tap into the “opera for the people” movement that bridges high art and populism. Verdi himself would most certainly approve.

The Italian conductor wrote “La Traviata” (1853) during a prolific period that took his artistry and fame to new heights, with operas that explored characters with greater dramatic depth and expressiveness, and delved into subjects that were deeply humane.

With librettist Francesco Maria Piave, he based the work (which translates to “The Fallen Woman” and refers to its heroine) on “La Dame aux camélias” (1852), a play by Alexandre Dumas fils, adapted from his own 1848 novel of the same name.

ANNA LARRANAGA

Dante Doganiero, left, as Baron Douphol, with Jax Hassler as Alfredo and Anna Viemeister as Flora in “La Traviata.”

The opera is about a Parisian courtesan, Violetta, and a young nobleman from Provence, Alfredo, who fall in love with each other. After moving to the idyllic countryside, their dream is shattered by Alfredo’s father, Giorgio, who urges Violetta to break it off with his son to avoid dragging down his aristocratic family name. She reluctantly agrees and her heartbreak (plus tuberculosis) leads to tragedy and death.

A well-balanced and trimmed-down production by Mayon and stage director Brendan Hartnett remained faithful to the libretto and respectful of its iconography. Included was the camellia flower that Violetta presents to Alfredo after his big love theme, the miniature portrait of herself that she gives to him on her deathbed, and all the correspondence crucial to the plot, including her “Amami, Alfredo” farewell letter.

Video projections created the scenery, both abstract (glittery baubles for party scenes) and metaphoric. Germont’s unexpected arrival at Violetta’s country home is accompanied by a projection of broken glass, symbolizing her shattered dreams.

While the scenography was lean, the costumes were rich. The 1850s setting was updated to the 1920s, with lavish costumes taking cues from the “Great Gatsby” era. In the champagne-soaked Brindisi number, “Libiamo Ne’ Lieti Calici,” a festively dressed ensemble — Savalas James (Giuseppe), Theodore Chang (Flora’s servant), Jeremy Griffin (Commissioner), Alize Francheska, Christine Cummins and Laura Heckmann — toasted to love in tuxedos and beaded cocktail dresses with drop-waist silhouettes. Even richer looks were rolled out for the party at Flora’s (Violetta’s courtesan friend, sung by Anna Viemeister, a polished mezzo with a warm, glowing tone). Later, in Violetta’s country house outside Paris, modest clothes in rustic palettes showed that she and Alfredo were no longer the glittering socialites of Parisian society.

Manuscript cuts kept the action flowing with a reduction of repeats, cavatinas and omitted chorus numbers like the Act III matador-picador-gypsy chorus and the offstage Carnivale “banda” chorus.

Nechamkin led the small orchestral ensemble at a quick and tidy clip. A strong and superb woodwind section kept an ear toward Verdi’s intricacies and shaded textures.

ANNA LARRANAGA

Ky Montez as Violetta and Jax Hassler as Alfredo in “La Traviata.”

What about the venue’s organ (whose big sound for its small size led its nickname, “Biggest Little Wurlitzer”)? The instrument, played by Rebecca Ehren, dwelled less in the basso continuo domain and acted more as a piano reduction, carrying the melody with Anya Czarnota on first violin and Maya Czarnota on second violin. (These violinists are middle and high school students from the local community; mentorship and community engagement are at the heart of Mayon’s vision for the company.)

New Jersey Opera Theater has used the organ in past productions, including “Die Walküre” in 2024. Mayon, a heldentenor, sang the role of Siegmund in that production, which was updated to the 1920s, with the organ paying homage to the 1928 founding of the venue. While it may have worked to great effect with Wagner, it was musically variable. On one hand, it lent vitality to “Traviata”; all the fire and melodrama of the profoundly operatic work was found. On the other hand, the monochromatic tone stripped the music of some of the atmosphere and tenderness of the Romantic score, and gave little room for the shaping of Verdi’s melodic line.

Act I started with uncertainty, with a disconnect between the orchestra and the singers, particularly in the banter scenes, including Dell’Invito Trascorsa È Già L’Ora?, the conversation between Alfredo’s friend Gastone (sung by Mathew Tartza with a pleasant and sweet tone), Flora’s friend Marquis d’Obigny (sung by Marc Cioffi with bubbly charm) and Baron Douphol, Violetta’s protector and Alfredo’s rival (sung by Dante Doganiero with cagey flair.)

Violetta’s heartrending aria, Addio del passato, fell so far off the beat that Nechamkin had to stop the musicians momentarily, leaving Montez to sing without musical accompaniment for some measures. The show must go on, and it did, with Montez delivering the aria with clarity of tone and warm lyricism.

Piave and Verdi based their opera on Dumas’ play instead of the novel because in the novel, the heroine is depicted as promiscuous and unrefined whereas in the play, she is more tasteful and composed. This seemed to be the direction Montez was going for with her aristocratic poise and phrasing, and icy sense of stillness.

Montez met all of the work’s excruciating demands, starting with her Act I centerpiece, the “Sempre Libera” cabaletta. She captured Violetta’s vacillations between emotion and reason, and nailed all the coloratura runs of the sustained high Cs with breathtaking trills and falling scales.

As Germont, Schneider was commanding and assured, and even charming at times. Reliably pitch-perfect solos, including “Di Provenza” and “Pura siccome un angelo,” were well-shaped with dynamic phrasing and nuance, and sung in a freely flowing voice with a resonant, velvety tone.

ANNA LARRANAGA

Charles Schneider as Germont and Ky Montez as Violetta in “La Traviata.”

Schneider’s Act II confrontation duets with Montez were beautifully rendered, with both singing with sensitive musicianship, dramatic lyricism and fierce control. In the duets in which Violetta agrees to make the sacrifice demanded by Germont, every note carried her heartbreak and despair.

Also engaging were Montez’s duets with Hassler’s Alfredo, including a deeply felt “Parigi O Cara” against agile woodwinds.

Hassler managed to evoke both heroism and sympathy in the role, singing with intensity of expression and honeyed warmth. This youthful Alfredo was not necessarily polished, but more openhearted and vulnerable. His big love theme — “Un dì, felice, eterea,” in which he says his love for Violetta is both delightful and tormenting — was sung with more tenderness than verve.

He showed a generous range of emotion in Act II, from the joyous “De’ Miei Bollenti” aria that celebrates his happy life with Violetta to his “O mio Rimorso” aria, tormented by guilt at learning of Violetta’s sacrifice to support their lifestyle.

At the poignant death scene, Monez smartly didn’t play up her illness with uncontrollable coughing and instead revealed a bloody handkerchief. Barefooted, and wide-eyed with impending death, she seemed truly vulnerable and fragile. Hassler’s sense of contrition was touching.

Jay Gould sang the small role of the Dottore with great care. Kelly Wenz, as Violetta’s maid Annina, found depth and gravity in the supporting role, and sang in a meltingly sweet soubrette.

Violetta’s death rarely fails to move the audience. There was no question here with a standing ovation from the modest-sized audience, cheering and applauding.

Between acts, Mayon announced the 2025-26 season from the stage. It will include Antonín Dvořák’s “Rusalka”; “The Christmas Spider,” a children’s opera by Clint Borzoni and John de los Santos; and Richard Wagner’s “Siegfried.” Judging by “La Traviata,” New Jersey Opera Theater should be able to find thoroughly felt touches in all.

For more about New Jersey Opera Theater, visit newjerseyopera.net.

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