G. Verdi – La traviata

Simona Saturova returns back as Violetta in La traviata in the State Opera Praha.

Regarding the Slovak soprano Simona Šaturová is absolutely amazing: light, round and flexible voice, exceptional legato, charming and distinctive appearance, inwardness and passion. We can love her Violetta, suffer with her, mourn her death. And to be angry at those who hasten its destruction.
[La Libre.be, 7.12.2012, Martine D. Mergeay]

Rarely is Traviata sung so lyrically, as from Simona Šaturová. Šaturová never pushes, remains herself and in the third act, when the death approaches slowly, she finds nuances that hurt the hearts.
[Deutschlandradio, Stefan Keim]

Simona Šaturová presents even the most difficult and filigree coloraturas exact, never artificial, always as an expression of the soul.
[Deutschlandfunk, Christoph Schmitz]

Slovakian Simona Šaturová is amazing as Violetta, not so much because she easily reaches all high notes (the least you may expect) but because of her credible interpretation of Violetta’s various emotions.
[De Tijd, Koen van Boxem]

Šaturová absolutely fascinated with austere, honest beauty of her voice when, sitting motionless in a chair turns into a great solo scene “É parties” in purely graceful vocal act.
[Die Welt, Manuel Brug]

Violetta (in this production) is not simply a star but a person, a human being that touches your heart…This impresses even more due tothe Slovakian Simona Šaturová natural but at the same time intense interpretation– with a warm, round, supple voice
[Neue Zürcher Zeitung, Peter Hagmann]

Giuseppe Verdi’s La traviata, to the libretto based on Alexandre Dumas’s novel La Dame aux camélias, about Marie Duplessis, the famous courtesan and idol of Parisian society in the 1840s, is actually the very first major opera treating a contemporary social theme. The work’s premiere in 1863 in Venice was a flop: the audience was appalled that the lead role had been assigned to a courtesan who, what’s more, was portrayed in a positive light. Yet Verdi’s opera soon started garnering plaudits and is now one of the most popular repertoire titles the world over.

La traviata has been staged at the venue that today houses the State Opera since the very beginning of its existence, when the New German Theatre took over the production from the German Estates Theatre. The opera primarily afforded the opportunity to host celebrated foreign singers, including the legendary Australian soprano Nellie Melba (18 April 1900). The most recent production was undertaken in 2006 by a foreign team headed by the French stage director Arnaud Bernard, with the music being explored by the Italian conductor Enrico Dovico.