La Traviata

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Image courtesy of the Liceu.

"La traviata," or Violetta Valéry, is a Parisian courtesan with a very glamorous life. She is a woman with her own light who, ill with tuberculosis, has to sacrifice her pure love for Alfredo Germont for social conventions because Alfredo's father does not approve of the relationship and the family reputation is called into question.

Initially consumerist and vain, Violetta is the new victim of a capitalist system that devours dreams. With brilliant and virtuoso music, she brutally criticizes the society of appearances, a machine that destroys personalities; especially when they are women who aspire to be free. Thus, Sempre libera, Violetta's most famous aria, is a hymn, a desperate cry to claim a space that she does not yet know she is about to lose. The origins of this story can be traced back to a historical figure: the courtesan Marie Duplessis, who died of tuberculosis in 1847. Shortly before her death, Duplessis had a brief affair with Alexandre Dumas (fils), who transformed this personal chapter into a semi-autobiographical novel: La Dame aux camélias (The Lady of the Camellias), published in 1848.

Dumas later adapted the work for the stage, which premiered at the Théâtre du Vaudeville in Paris on February 2, 1852. Giuseppe Verdi often drew inspiration from French theater. Ernani and Rigoletto were based on works by Victor Hugo and, a few months after the premiere of The Lady of the Camellias, Verdi had already decided that it would be the basis for the new opera he had commissioned for La Fenice di Venezia. Together with librettist Francesco Maria Piave, Verdi created one of the most realistic dramas of his career, an opera that does not shy away from the moral and medical tensions of the source material, themes that he considered “contemporary issues.”

The role of Violetta demands an exceptionally versatile singer and actress. Soprano Nadine Sierra will play the tragic heroine alongside Javier Camarena, the charismatic Mexican tenor who will be her “dear Alfredo.” The trio of leading roles is completed by Verdi baritone Artur Ruciński.

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