End drama

'There should be no coughing in Act Four of La Traviata,' said Verdi, who knew a thing or two when it came to the stagings of his operas. It's a shame that neither the soprano (Inva Mula) nor the revival director (Daniel Dooner) heeded this advice on Saturday, for the entire last act was filled with such violent expectoration you could barely hear the orchestra. As you might imagine, this dramatic overkill almost toppled the death scene into comedy.

But a worse result was that it seemed to spur on the audience to try to outdo Violetta, resulting in a great Mexican Wave of hawking and gasping throughout the last act. And as if this weren't enough, every one of Mula's moribund gestures was executed with the extravagance of a low-rent drag act doing the final scene of Sunset Boulevard.

But her voice! What Mula lacks in stage panache, she more than makes up for in vocal magic. She possesses a rich, powerful sound allied with a truly astonishing technique which ensures that, musically at least, things trundle along beautifully.

With an agile, light tenor as Alfredo (Edgaras Montvidas) and some exemplary conducting from Paolo Carignani, this is a Traviata still worth catching. Just take a spittoon.

In rep until Jan 20 (next perf tomorrow), Royal Opera House, Bow Street WC2, 7.30pm, £4 to £140 (returns only).

Tel: 020 7304 4000. www.royalopera.org Tube: Covent Garden

La Traviata