Attending the opera has traditionally been something of an grand occasion.Despite the lack of an opera house or an opera company here, the Gilbert and Sullivan Society was determined to create that sense of occasion with the screening of the The Met: Live in HD series.Verdi’s ‘La Traviata’, the most recent production in the series, screened at the Bermuda Underwater Exploration Institute on Saturday.Bar service and hors d’oeuvres were on offer during intermission, bringing the event one step closer to creating that sense of occasion.Of course, the production itself was the central draw, but the opportunity to mix and mingle with other opera lovers and discuss the relative merits of the current production enhanced the experience.Willy Decker’s minimalist production dispensed with extravagant theatrical elements; the spare set and modern costumes focused the attention on the intense emotion of the piece.Love in its multiplicity of expressions was the theme: the sensuality of physical love, the playfulness of conjugal love, the suffocating love of a pater familias, the self-sacrificing love of the deeply devoted.Violetta Valery, performed by Natalie Dessay, is a courtesan whose joie de vivre is a mask for a woman dying before her time.She is introduced to Alfredo Germont, played by leading lyric tenor Matthew Polenzani, who has admired her from afar.Torn between her exciting way of life and the desire to be truly loved, Violetta chooses an idyllic life in the country with her devoted Alfredo, though it costs her her life savings.All too soon, however, Alfredo’s father Giorgio, portrayed by baritone Dmitri Hvorostovksy, appears like a summer storm, intent on tearing his son away from a relationship that threatens the propriety of his daughter’s impending marriage.Violetta sacrifices her own happiness, and that of Alfredo, for the sake of convention.Ultimately Giorgio recognises the great wrong he has done, and Violetta and Alfredo are reunited, though Violetta’s death is imminent.An oversized clock on an otherwise empty stage underscored the sense of time running out, and of the inability of love to prevent the inevitable.The lack of clutter heightened the intensity of the emotion powerfully conveyed by the three soloists.Violetta’s vivid red cocktail dress was a striking counterpoint to the black suits of the chorus, while the floral dressing gowns worn by the couple during their time in the country visually underscored the sense that they disappeared into periods of pastoral bliss, the old life discarded with their clothes.The ever-present clock was also draped with floral cloth suggesting that for a moment, time has stood still.The final scene at the casino, with the chorus in masks, enhanced the sense of the surreal.As in the past, the programme notes and captions in English made Verdi’s opera accessible to those unfamiliar with the piece, as did commentary by host Deborah Voight, and backstage interviews with the performers.The Gilbert and Sullivan Society is already looking forward to the new season.In October they will present Donizetti’s ‘L’Elisir d’Amore’, Mozart’s ‘La Clemenza di Tito’, Verdi’s ‘Aida’ and ‘Gigoletto’ and Handel’s ‘Giulio Cesare’.For more information, visit www.gands.bm.