La Traviata
Millennium Centre, Cardiff/Touring

IN WELSH National Opera’s capable hands, Giuseppe Verdi's crowd-pleasing La Traviata is stunningly realised. The opening bars of one of opera’s must distinctive overtures provide a delicious prelude to the sumptuous evening ahead and the performances do not disappoint.

[[{"fid":"7024","view_mode":"inlineright","fields":{"format":"inlineright","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"Star cross'd lovers: Kang Wang and Linda Richardson (Pic: Betina Skovbro)","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":false},"link_text":null,"type":"media","field_deltas":{"1":{"format":"inlineright","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"Star cross'd lovers: Kang Wang and Linda Richardson (Pic: Betina Skovbro)","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":false}},"attributes":{"alt":"Star cross'd lovers: Kang Wang and Linda Richardson (Pic: Betina Skovbro)","class":"media-element file-inlineright","data-delta":"1"}}]]Premiered in 1853, Verdi never got to see the opera staged in the way he envisaged as the scandalised censors of the day insisted it be set centuries earlier. The story of a courtesan being wooed, falling in love and then living in sin with a young man while paying for their keep from her immoral earnings would probably even give today’s tabloids a fit of the vapours.

But David McVicar, opting to stage the opera in the 19th century, has created such a strong production — revived here by Sarah Crisp — that Verdi himself would surely have approved. The staging is sumptuous and the lighting embodies the louche salon where Linda Richardson’s Violetta holds court with her decadent friends.

She portrays the role with touching vulnerability, emphasising the illness that will eventually bring about a teary finale. Kang Wang has a beautiful voice and here he proves to be an impressive actor too as Violetta's suitor Alfredo.

Roland Wood’s dominant Giorgio Germont, demanding Violetta end the scandalous relationship with his son Alfredo for the sake of their bourgeois family, almost steals the show. His impeccable phrasing and a brooding presence captures the eye whenever he is on stage.

But it is the love story and Verdi’s stunning music that provide the emotional core and it's a privilege to see two principals at the top of their game in Wang and Richardson. Alfredo convincingly sings of his love for a woman he has only seen from a distance and his stunning opening aria elicits a beautiful response from Richardson’s Violetta.

Convincing dances enhance the action of a triumphant production and, when the stars align, uniting music, acting, singing and choreography, the whole is something for all to enjoy. The final heart-wrenching scene is so powerful I'd defy anybody with a heart not to shed a tear as the curtain falls.

Catch it while you can.

Runs at the Millennium Centre and tours until November 28, details: wno.org.uk.