Becoming Traviata

Becoming Traviata (2012)

Traviata et nous

How can emotion come to light on the opera set? Does it come from singing, acting or music? How can someone become the incarnation of Verdi's masterpiece? Following world famous French soprano Natalie Dessay from the first repetitions until the premiere under the direction of Jean-François Sivadier, we meet a very special woman, a piece of art, a myth: LA TRAVIATA.

Date of release
2012-10-24
TMDB
6.5 / 10 (4)
Runtime
2h 0m
Genres
Documentary
Director
Philippe Béziat

Casting

Interesting facts

  • Filmed in: Aix-en-Provence

Becoming Traviata is a 2012 French documentary film chronicling rehearsals of the 1853 Giuseppe Verdi opera La traviata at the Aix-en-Provence Festival. Directed by Philippe Béziat, the film focuses largely on stage director Jean-François Sivadier working with coloratura soprano Natalie Dessay. The film's French title is Traviata et nous.

Background, production

Dessay first performed the role of Violetta at the Santa Fe Opera in 2009, two years before this, her European debut of the part. Some observers felt the role's demands exceeded Dessay's voice and speculated that such challenges may shorten her career. During rehearsals, Dessay uses a technique common among soloists of "marking", that is, singing the part in less than a full voice.

In the first days of rehearsal, Dessay found the film crew an unwelcome presence, an intruder at an intimate process in which the participants, who don't always know each other, learn to work together. The crew, in turn, worked at a more discreet distance. They shot more than 100 hours of footage, which was edited down to a running time of 1 hour, 52 minutes.

Read on Wikipedia · Text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Data from Wikidata.

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