Canadian Opera Company’s ‘La Traviata’ is a beautiful revival — but its stars are mismatched - Toronto Star

American soprano Kathryn Lewek is the highlight of Arin Arbus' production, but Chinese tenor Long Long was wobbly on opening night. 

Kathryn Lewek as Violetta Valéry and Long Long as Alfredo Germont in the COC’s production of “La Traviata.”

Toronto operagoers have been treated to a pair of mighty performances in two Verdi workhorses this year. 

First came Canadian Sarah Dufresne, who made a ravishing Canadian Opera Company (COC) debut as Gilda in “Rigoletto.” Now, Kathryn Lewek is delivering an equally impressive COC debut in the company’s latest revival of “La Traviata,” in which she plays the French courtesan Violetta Valéry, whose lavish lifestyle can’t shield her from a debilitating illness and heartbreak at the hands of her lover, the nobleman Alfredo.

Lewek’s performance is one that, from her opening aria, grabs the audience by the collar and doesn’t let go until her last breath, one that manages to make the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts feel like a private salon, as if we’re right there with Violetta, tracing her steps in her final, tragic weeks.