Title: Why bother?
Product review: All I can say is, "thank the good Lord that someone lent me this recording and I didn't pay for it!" There are so many vastly superior recordings of Traviata available, with a variety of Violettas (Sutherland, Callas, Cortrubas, Moffo, de los Angeles) Alfredos (Pavarotti, Domigo, Kraus, Bjorling. Bergonzi) and Papa Germonts (Merrill, Milnes, MacNeil, Nucci) to choose from instead. Great Verdians all. The young lovers here are adequate at best, soporific at worst. Sadly, once again, Maestro Hampson makes one of his many misguided forays into the Verdian repertoire. What a pity, for one who is so expressive a lieder singer to be so hopefully lost in Opera. He just doesn't have the vocal power to sustain the long lyric lines or the vocal freedeom to maintain the dramatic thrust that Verdi commands. Still, I am certain that the millions of Hampson's fervent admirers will swoop and croon, much as he does in this affected performance. E strano. I say again, "Why bother?" with this Traviata.
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