La Traviata - Anna Netrebko

In today’s musical note I want to share with you one of the most popular operas of our time: La Traviata.  It was composed by Giuseppe Verdi in 1852.  I watched this production a few years ago and I thought it was probably the best one I’d ever seen.  Aside from the great performances by Anna Netreboko and Rolando Villazon, I really like the stage – it has only white walls, a clock, and a couch.  This minimization stimulates the imagination.

I have to admit I’m completely smitten by Anna Netrebko.  I am going to sound shallow for a second – so be it.  Usually, female opera singers don’t fit the characters they try to portray on stage, especially characters of Verdi and Puccini operas (frail beauties that men are supposed to lust for).   It is very difficult to find an opera singer that has all three qualities: a great voice, great acting ability, and physical beauty.  You usually get one, maybe two, but three? – well, you get them with Anna Netrebko.

I am going to stop here before I say something politically incorrect… So here is La Traviata.

Vitaliy Katsenelson is the CEO at IMA, a value investing firm in Denver. He has written two books on investing, which were published by John Wiley & Sons and have been translated into eight languages. Soul in the Game: The Art of a Meaningful Life (Harriman House, 2022) is his first non-investing book. You can get unpublished bonus chapters by forwarding your purchase receipt to bonus@soulinthegame.net.