The stunning banality of the libretto, by Mr. Wainwright and Bernadette Colomine, reaches its apex here, with lines like "Your beauty intoxicates me, " while Tim Albery's directing of this opera-within-an-opera references old-fashioned stand-and-deliver style at its most wooden.

WSJ: Prima Donna | La Traviata | New York City Opera Makes a Case for Its Own Demise | Opera Review by Heidi Waleson