Party scenes fail to hit the heights

La Traviata

Macau International Music Festival, Macau Cultural Centre, until Monday

The Macau International Music Festival opened with that darling of grand opera, Verdi's La Traviata, which tells the story of a consumptive courtesan's tragic love for a nobleman.

This is a roller coaster opera that swings between hedonistic abandonment and doom.

Rikka Hakola as Violetta had the right ethereal looks and a voice with the sweet tones and register to catch the pathos of the final death scene. The opera is supposed to open on a high note against which the creeping shadow of death is set in tragic contrast. But the party mood was not helped by the stodgy acting of the Beijing National Opera of China Chorus. Hakola was not at her best in this act, straining to express light-hearted merriment.

The arrival of Warren Mok as Alfredo brought the party back to life. Mok gave a consistently high-energy performance, his strong tenor projecting well.