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STAATSOPER HAMBURG – LA TRAVIATA: STANDING OVATION FOR EMOTIONS AND SINGING

Kajtazi made another role debut here at the house and was rewarded for her outstanding performance with a standing ovation from the entire audience right from the first curtain, which is always reserved for Violetta alone. As with her debut as Manon in Jules Massenet's opera of the same name, it was she who fascinated the most: Elbenita Kajtazi. She flirted lightheartedly with Alfredo, then effortlessly conveyed the joyful terror that filled Violetta with È strano!... è strano!/ Follie!... follie!/ Semper libera degg'io. It's a somewhat worn expression, but it applies to Kajtazi: she lives the role. She brings Violetta to life with innumerable nuances of small gestures and facial expressions as well as physical exertion. Her emotional intensity was always touching, she never seemed artificial or even exaggerated. Her radiantly bright soprano, from which she seemed to elicit the most beautiful tones in all registers without effort, makes her performance all the more admirable. I am certain that Kajtazi has a great career ahead of her, one that she has wholeheartedly wished for, and she is just as likely to continue it from the Hamburg State Opera. Until then, may she continue to inspire as Manon, Traviata or in other roles. Conclusion: It was simply a performance that deservedly received a standing ovation. PERIOD

Musically a moment of glory: Elbenita Kajtazi as Violetta in Verdi's La Traviata, overall, it was a triumph for the young, likeable 30-year-old soprano Elbenita Kajtazi. I have never experienced before that the audience immediately rose as one after the end of the opera at the first curtain, when Violetta entered the stage alone, and applauded jubilantly for several minutes.
I haven’t had Elbenita Kajtazi on my radar, as they say, and I've only heard her once before, as Najade in Ariadne auf Naxos. A few days ago she performed the moon song from Dvořák's opera Rusalka at the Ukraine Solidarity Concert and left a great impression on me with her beautiful, rather dark timbre and her expressive, deeply ensouled interpretation. That's why we got tickets at short notice for today's Traviata performance. Overall, however, it was the triumph of Elbenita Kajtazi, who took on the role of Violetta with great emphasis. The singer has a fascinating timbre, as Violetta not quite as dark as in the Rusalka aria, but has a strong voice and always has a beautiful sound over all the ups and downs of the role with a very light vibrato that serves to express the soul. Rarely has the combination of coloratura in the Semper libera in the first act, a soft flow of voice in a duet with Giorgio Germont in the second act and a lyrical-dramatic outburst in the third act and in the aria Addio del passato in the fourth act been performed so skilfully on the stage of the Hamburg State Opera, like tonight; at least not in the performances I heard. Kajtazi's coloraturas were set gently without sounding jagged, graceful like falling pearls, expressing the feeling of still uncertain happiness in love. She designed the lyrical part in the first picture of the second act with a soft euphony, without missing a trace of bitterness and sadness. She did not owe her dramatic use in the third scene of the second and third acts and was completely convincing in the death scene in the third act. Stephen Costello also once again showed great form. All in all, however, it was a triumph for the young, likeable 30-year-old soprano Elbenita Kajtazi. I have never experienced before that the audience immediately rose as one after the end of the opera at the first curtain, when Violetta entered the stage alone, and applauded jubilantly for several minutes. You could see Elbenita Kajtazi's joy about this beautiful success of the singer who belongs to the Hamburg ensemble. This line-up will be heard again next Sunday, March 20th, 2022. Anyone who can make it possible should not miss this musical event.

The violetta of the angels

Elbenita Kajtazi in Violetta is the discovery of the evening. The different vocal registries demanded by the partition for this role, are here gathered in singing lines soaked with grand purity, with beauty and above all with youth. The portrait is that of a woman of the world subjected and unchaste despite herself, passionately in love, who at the pressing demand of the father Germont metamorphoses under the eyes of a moved public into a degraded woman, stained and physically lost. This physical fragility is found in every one of her vocal intonations. Bewitching timbre, crushing sharps, her grand aria with the shining and retained final notes is a rare moment. In the last act we find her diminished, with dislocated shoulders, but with the voice always as beautiful with warm and engaged accents. Standing on her deathbed, with arms held toward the sky, the fallen courtesan lets fall on her feet a faded flower of red camellia, symbol of her tumultuous life, before perishing forever. The game and the voice of this great singer and actress, arouses strong emotions. We have discovered an immense Violetta.

Some of the participants’ names of this year’s course should definitely be remembered: For instance, there is the soprano Elbenita Kajtazi from Kosovo, who began her training in Mitrovica (a divided city with continuing ethnic tensions but also some good news!). Her voice was the richest and most versatile of the evening. With the aria "Prendi, per me sei libero" from Donizetti's "Elixir of Love" she was able to show off the entire range of expression admirably, from a secure forte without any sharp overtones in the high notes, to a flattering piano, and all with secure intonation.

In the title role, the soprano of Kosovar origin Elbenita Kajtazi is an amazing discovery, which possesses many qualities: attractive and seductive beauty, charismatic presence on stage, constant and natural dramatic involvement through her way of movement but also in her singing specially the text. All with a powerful, round and homogeneous voice, technically sharp... Ju përshëndes nga Hamburgu i bukur

...and Elbenita Kajtazi’s Nannetta is both exquisitely clear and delicatly erotic

The as fairy queen acted out Nannetta is magically sung by Elbenita Kajtazi.

Here all voices turn out to be equal and equal main roles. Elbenita Kajtazi, the singer from Kosovo with international experience and meanwhile member of the ensemble in Hamburg, sings Nannetta with a finely guided soprano, lovely phrasing and a colouring full of variety. From the ladies she then deservedly receives the warmest applause from the audience.

...and Nannetta (the daughter of Ford's and sooo in love ... Elbenita Kajtazi) - who ended up getting married to her sweetheart Fenton (Oleksiy Palchykov) (also cuts a fine figure and singing anyway

For the last picture, Bieito subjects the title hero to a symbolic castration when the angry crowd of women slowly cuts his hair from his head, while Kajtazi lets Nannetta's aria "Sul fil d’un soffio etesio" sprout a true blossom of sound.

...and Elbenita Kajtazi sings Alice's daughter Nannetta with magically lyrical soprano

The rest of the ensemble acted consistently at a high voice level with a sensational surprise: Elbenita Kajtazi from Kosovo sang the role of Nannetta breathtaking from the first note. Already their long-held tones in the first act were promising. Somewhere between the Zenith-Caballé and the young Netrebko, from a synaesthetic point of view, sweetest filigree clouds of sound poured into the hall, the bewitched, intoxicated and enchanted. This voice is so clear, so pure, so uniquely beautiful that it obviously has to do with a future world star - and there are probably no two opinions. Ms. Kajtazi is a stroke of luck for Hamburg and one of the most important cornerstones for the fact that this house is currently rocketing upwards.

And the enchanting soprano Elbenita Kajtazi, who colors her "Summertime" and "Someone To Watch Over Me" with a touch of soul and dark, while capturing herself with a natural presence. With her something lights up, in the voice and in the aura, so a kind of energetic shimmer, which one probably can not learn, but has to carry in itself. She does.

That Elbenita Kajtazi (Pamina) has already been awarded numerous prizes seems only logical after a few minutes of listening. The sound palette of her soprano is dazzling and electrifying, warm and flattering, powerful and touching. The same applies to her intense play. Tamino cheerfully tries to catch her eye as he tries to get her attention, later she is desperate because he almost ignores her with her hands. As well as her dedication at the end, which is even more important to her love than to life.

Mirador

In the vocal lineup we had 3 primadonnas of extraordinary quality. Sophie was the surprise, but we think that the Kosovar Elbenita Kajtazi will be unlikely to be seen again in these latitudes, since she is very young and her projection is phenomenal. Great volume, perfect musicality, ample breath and musicality to the very end of every line. Great voice, great artist.

El Mercurio

The great soprano Elbenita Kajtazi, Sophie with a strong personality and crystal clear pianissimos

This might have been a mainly house cast and the quality of the singing was extremely good, reflecting the high standards the house sets for itself. Elbenita Kajtazi. Make a note of this name because this lady has a glorious natural instrument. Her Pamina was ravishingly sung. The registers are absolutely integrated throughout and her ‘ach, ich fühl’s’ defied gravity, just in the way that it should. There’s a crystalline beauty to the tone that is so even and so attractive. I did leave with a sense that perhaps her vocalism was still slightly anonymous, perhaps needing to dig deeper into the words, but make no mistake, Kajtazi is a serious talent.