HE ROLES WE HOOSE PERSPECTIVES T C

By Melinda Whittington

Violetta is both a vocal and dramatic tour-de-force for sopranos, representing a pinnacle of achievement and ability in one’s career. The last time I performed this role, I was a young artist at Brevard Music Center in the mountains of North Carolina. I am thrilled to finally have the chance to revisit this fascinating role and stunning music with my home company, Opera Carolina.

Violetta Valery stems from Alexandre Dumas’ heroine in La Dame aux Camelias (1848), a novella about the real-life Parisian courtesan Marie Duplessis. She grew up with an abusive father who sold her to men in the village, then left her in Paris when she was about 11. She taught herself to read and write and climbed the ladder of sex work to become the most famous woman in Paris before dying of tuberculosis at 25. Most women at the time had no means of supporting themselves and, therefore, no economic freedom. In many ways, being a courtesan allowed women independence and freedom they would have never otherwise enjoyed. Courtesans could speak openly and enjoy nightlife and high culture the way a man could.

La traviata is a character trope that has appeared in stories over and over for centuries – the Madonna versus Jezebel dichotomy. The societal framework traps Violetta; she does not fit what they have defined as a “woman,” and society punishes her for it. However, Verdi’s portrayal shows that she is not just one or the other. She’s a character full of contradictions that make us human, owning her choices in all her messy, complicated, irrational glory. Violetta chooses to give up her happiness for the sake of an innocent girl - Alfredo’s sister - and experiences that choice as an act of spiritual redemption. As iconic soprano Renee Fleming once said, “She ultimately has more integrity than every other character in the opera.”

Women feel constrained by society’s contradictory definitions and expectations. I am a mother to two precious little boys - Isaac and Simon - and motherhood is rife with these expectations and judgments on all sides. There is shame and guilt whether staying at home or going to work (as if staying at home were not a full-time job). Current society traps women into feeling that we not only can but should have it all - the career and the family. We are not “doing it right” if we cannot work full time, exclusively breastfeed, make home-cooked meals and homemade organic baby food, lose all that baby weight, and get in a regular date night. On top of this impossible balancing act that mothers feel, add the typical life of a traveling opera singer. I’m either away from my family for weeks at a time while on a gig, or I take my children away from their home, routine, and dad, somehow hoping to balance an unpredictable rehearsal schedule with childcare in an unfamiliar city and solo parenting.

The roles I play of “mother” and “opera singer” are often difficult to balance. But both parts are me, who I am at my core. As a singer, I share music with audiences and tell stories that transport and teach us. And I know that I am a better mother when I embody that calling. So, these are the roles I choose. It’s messy and complicated - grabbing 5-minute chunks of practice while my boys bang every key on the piano is a logistical nightmare. And it’s also breathtakingly beautiful. Like Violetta, the motivation for my roles also stands at the core of my choices: love.