Gilded visual feast a treat for audiences at Warwick Arts Centre

The Ukrainian National Opera of Kharkiv, along with hand-picked soloists from around the world, will perform Ellen Kent’s subtitled production of La Traviata at the Coventry venue on Tuesday.

Having taken 18 months to bring to the stage and £25,000 spent on silk gowns, the show promises to be a spectacular version of Verdi’s ever-popular work.

Director and producer Ellen Kent has been awarded a medal of honour for making the most important contribution to Moldovan arts in the country’s history and named one of the top five opera producers in Britain.

The 62-year-old is keen to promote opera to as wide an audience as possible. She said: “Opera is not different in any great way to a classical stage play, apart from the music and how you convey the emotion.

“But it’s something which one has to be very clever in promoting and reaching out to people because it’s not immediately what people would want to go to see. The word ‘opera’ tends to put them off.”

Ellen said her opera is “user-friendly. It’s accessible, affordable, beautifully staged and traditional - but certainly not boring.

“I have been known to put horses and golden eagles on stage. Once people go, they are completely captured.

“For La Traviata, I spent a lot of time shopping around Europe to find handsome young men and pretty women and the sets are beautiful.

“The whole thing is gilted and film-like. I like it to be a visual feast.”

Sung in Italian with English subtitles, the opera is based on a true story and tells of the life and love of the passionate but consumptive Violetta, La Dame aux Camelias.

International sopranos Maria Tsonina and Elena Dee take the leading role of Violetta and Andriy Perfilov plays Alfredo. They are joined by a 70-strong company including tenor Ruslan Zinevych, who has sung with Pavarotti and performed Ellen’s operas at the Royal Albert Hall in London.

Ellen said: “La Traviata is about the most famous French courtesan ever. It’s an absolutely fascinating story, it’s dramatic and it’s real.

“I have done it many, many times and it is one of my favourites, along with Tosca and La Boheme.”

The performance starts at 8pm. For tickets, call 024 7652 4524 or go online.