La traviata
Giuseppe Verdi / Tom Goossens
With our wandering gaze
No matter how dark it is outside or how dim the party lights are inside, on the dance floor everyone wants to be seen. In Verdi’s La traviata, it is Violetta Valéry who is particularly in the spotlight. She is surrounded by stares. Some see only her dazzling appearance. Others gaze at her smitten with love, such as Alfredo Germont. His father, on the other hand, is more concerned when he sees Violetta. To protect his reputation, he feels compelled to make Violetta do the impossible… Director Tom Goossens, who directed Mozart’s Don Giovanni last season, broadens the perspectives in his Traviata and has the characters grapple with the question of who is allowed to cast whom in what light. Do they themselves control how they are viewed? A game unfolds between reality and performance, which continues beyond the confines of the stage.
DURATION: ca. 2 hours and 40 minutes, including break
LANGUAGE: sung in Italian with Dutch and English surtitles
Take the OBV Bus from Ghent on Wed 23 Dec and Sat 9 Jan: click here for more information
Original production: Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden (2025) in co-production with Opera Ballet Vlaanderen.
The creators
Cast
Vuvu Mpofu
Violetta Valéry
Stacey Alleaume
Violetta Valéry
Judith Le Breuilly
Flora Bervoix
Chia-Fen Wu
Annina
Team
Elena Schwarz
Conductor
Tom Goossens
Direction
Bart Van Merode
Scenography and lighting design
Lena Mariën
Costume design
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Reactions
"Decor- en lichtontwerper Bart Van Merode slaagt erin de kale ruimte met behulp van een enorm arsenaal aan schijnwerpers te vullen met leven en karakter. Deze beperking biedt de regisseur en zijn acteurs vooral de mogelijkheid om zich te concentreren op de kern van het stuk."
OPER! 04.11.2025
"Tom Goossens is de briljante Belg die de coproductie met Opera Ballet Vlaanderen, met haar prachtige kostuums, leidt en met Verdi’s ‘La Traviata’ in Wiesbaden zijn internationale regiedebuut maakt. Daarbij heeft hij zich niet alleen ten doel gesteld de eeuwenoude mannelijke blik op Verdi’s edele prostituee kritisch te onderzoeken. Hij probeert haar ook vanaf het begin de touwtjes in handen te geven."
Frankfurter Neue Presse 03.11.2025
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