About the work
Giuseppe Verdi's three-act opera was premiered in 1853 at the Teatro La Fenice in Venice, based on Alexandre Dumas fils's novel and play La Dame aux camélias. It forms the third part of Verdi's so-called trilogia popolare (Rigoletto, Il Trovatore, La Traviata). The premiere was a failure—partly because of a soprano ill-suited to the consumptive heroine, partly because the contemporary subject scandalised the audience; in revised form the work soon became one of the greatest successes in operatic history.
Plot
The celebrated Parisian courtesan Violetta Valéry falls in love with the young Alfredo Germont and abandons her dissolute life to live with him in the country. Alfredo's father Giorgio Germont visits Violetta secretly and urges her to give up the relationship for the sake of the family's honour and his daughter's marriage. Violetta sacrifices her happiness and appears to return to her former life. Alfredo, unaware of the true reasons, humiliates her publicly at a party. When the gravely ill Violetta lies dying and the truth emerges, Alfredo rushes to her side—only to watch her die of consumption in his arms.
Cultural significance
La Traviata is among the most popular operas in the repertoire and Verdi's most intimate work; the drinking song Libiamo ne'lieti calici and Violetta's farewell aria Addio del passato give voice to universal emotions. The title role ranks among the most demanding for soprano, posing utterly different vocal challenges across its three acts—from dramatic coloratura through lyric tenderness to wasted fragility. Films and stagings from Franco Zeffirelli to Willy Decker have continually reinterpreted the work.