Entertainment

Soprano soars as she falls

Angela Gheorghiu’s triumph in “La Traviata” Monday night at the Met was a searing reminder of why we go to opera in the first place.

In one of the finest Met performances in years, Gheorghiu starred as Violetta, a courtesan who sacrifices her happiness for the sake of her lover’s family. Her smoky soprano and intense acting mined tragedy from Verdi’s tear-jerker.

Vocal highlights included a creamy legato in the first-act aria “Ah fors’ e lui” and, in the death scene, a whisper of tone that blossomed into a radiant high B-flat. But it’s impossible to isolate her singing from a portrayal so compelling that — for once — the glitzy Franco Zeffirelli production failed to distract.

Particularly impressive is the way the Romanian soprano refuses to gloss over Violetta’s less attractive traits. In the first act — where most sopranos are content to flounce and giggle — her eyes glittered with hungry mania. After renouncing her lover for the sake of his family, she struck no conventional noble poses, instead whimpering like a terrified child.

To be sure, Gheorghiu’s not perfect. She occasionally wandered off pitch and often rushed ahead of the tempo, a problem aggravated by the tentative, clumsy conducting of Leonard Slatkin. He also derailed both experienced baritone Thomas Hampson (Germont) and debuting tenor James Valenti as Violetta’s lover, Alfredo.

Those few mishaps aside, the 32-year-old New Jersey native’s first Met performance was more than promising. Valenti revealed a sweet, even lyric tenor, an aristocratic way with a vocal line and easy confidence.

It seems downright unfair that he also boasts the smoldering good looks of a male model.