By Michael H. Margolin

The second outing for Michigan Opera Theatre in this, the 43rd season, is the sublime “La Traviata” of Giuseppe Verdi. Pronounce “La Traviata” slowly; tongue meets teeth, your lips purse, upper teeth meet tongue as your mouth opens to welcome “e” and “ah.”

This is not a vocal theorem, but a way of synopsizing the melodic Italian sounds which, with the wall-to-wall melodies, make the story of Violetta, a Parisian kept woman, such a favorite with audiences. Last night at Michigan Opera Theatre was a love fest with the audience.

Conductor Leonardo Vordoni is new to the MOT podium, and he took great pleasure in the melodies and tempi, allowing lushness, sensuousness to override the rush to conclusion. The singers of the major characters – Violetta, soprano; Alfredo, tenor; Germont, baritone – grabbed the opportunity to luxuriate and breathe life into their vocals.

Though, technically, a grand opera, it is an intimate story played out against the 19th century backdrop of Parisian life in the solid, graceful production of Desmond Heely and the glowing lighting of Kendal Smith. Even as it begins, when the young Alfredo is introduced to Violetta who, she is told, has admired her from afar for a year, one hears the echo of Marcel Proust’s central character in “Remembrance of Things Past” who yearns for many pages to meet the beautiful Duchess of Guermantes, and does, finally, in a salon, just as Alfredo is introduced at a late evening party, a tradition of the French upper classes.

As Violetta, Nicole Cabel returns to MOT; if I remember correctly, she was Musetta in a “La Boheme” some seasons ago and I thought her raucous. She has become a subtler and more powerful actress while her voice shows power, agility and the right stuff to get her through three acts in which her music ranges from coloratura passages to dramatic outbursts. She is a fine singing-actress.

The Alfredo has a very handsome tenor voice, focused and unforced; Leonardo Caimi’s aria at the beginning of Act II was marvelously drawn – sensitive, sweet, a tale of youthful arrogance. Caimi also found his way above the orchestra in louder passages, still sounding free. This is his American debut: Bring him back, David.

Both Cabel and Caimi repeat their roles on the 20th and 23rd, while Corinne Winters and Zach Borichevsky take on the roles on the 22nd and 24th.

Also new to MOT is Stephen Powell as Germont, Alfredo’s father and the closest librettist Piave comes to producing a villain. He comes on in the second act to steer the plot, cause the crisis of heart for Violetta and Alredo. But this is achieved with music and not at all in a superficial way. First with Violetta there is an impassioned duet, and then in the very beautiful “Di Provenza,” a plea to his son. Powell, who is young, brings a maturity and authority to the role; listen carefully to the last few notes of “Provenza” for the slight quiver he puts into his voice, a moment of musical hesitation in the character’s resolve. If it was not meant, he should keep it in. Powell will sing all the remaining performances.

The production from Lyric Opera of Chicago was directed here by Mario Corradi; to the opening music before the stage action begins, Corradi shows Violetta, in pantomime, in a nightgown on her bed. It is an encounter with a paying client. Just as they are about to “engage,” she has a coughing fit, the man leaves hastily; this presages her descent into illness (perhaps a metaphor for what happens if you screw around, and brings to mind an infamous production of “La Traviata” in which Violetta was an AIDS victim).

The supporting cast of Ashley Maria Bahri Kashat, Evan Ross, Jordan Christopher, Mark L. Watson, Jonathan Riesen, Danielle Wright, Michael Fowler, Brandon C. Sharperson Hood and Pette Moore were all effective.

This is a graceful and economic production without quirks or unpleasant directorial impositions; it flows buoyantly on the Verdian rivers of melody to the last, tragic moment.