Amore At the Bolshoi

A little over a year ago, a Moscow producer brought the Rome Opera to the Kremlin Palace to give what was advertised as a "Franco Zeffirelli production" of Giacomo Puccini's "Tosca." Many must have been disappointed to find the singers acting on a small platform that bore minimal sets -- a far cry from the veteran director's usual, ultra-lavish production style. In fact, this "Tosca" was never intended as a full production but devised for special, concert-like performances to mark the centennial of the opera while the Rome Opera House underwent renovation.

Tonight, another Zeffirelli production comes to town -- Giuseppe Verdi's "La Traviata" -- and, although it will be seen at the Bolshoi Theater, it too was specially imported, by the Postmodern Theater and Alfa Bank. Yet it promises to be a far more rewarding venture than the "Tosca," and a DVD of the first production exists to prove it. The staging originated in 2002 in the Giuseppe Verdi Theater in Busseto, Italy, the village outside Parma close to where Verdi was born and later owned a farm. And Zeffirelli has personally come to Moscow to supervise the Bolshoi performances, his first time working in Moscow since 1973, according to a spokesman for the Postmodern Theater.

What surprised longtime spectators of Zeffirelli's work in Busseto was the intimacy of his treatment of the familiar opera about a glamorous Parisian courtesan and her experience with true love. He drew finely detailed portrayals from the principals, and, compared to the extravagant productions of "La Boh??me" and "La Traviata" that he bestowed on the Metropolitan Opera, it was a model of restraint.

The Busseto production also boasted a lovely, pure-voiced new Violetta in the person of Stefania Bonfadelli and the masterful veteran baritone Renato Bruson as Germont. Joining them at the Bolshoi will be the rising young tenor Massimo Giordano, as Alfredo.

According to the Postmodern Theater, the sets for the production have been specially rebuilt for the performances at the Bolshoi because its stage is much larger than the one in Busetto. Who knows? Perhaps this "Traviata" will capture the best of both worlds -- the intimacy of Busseto and the grandeur of the Met.

Franco Zeffirelli's "La Traviata" plays Thursday, Friday and Saturday at the Bolshoi Theater, located at 1 Teatralnaya Ploshchad. Metro Teatralnaya. Tel. 250-7317.