Alfredo joins them, admitting the truth of Gastone's remarks. She makes way for the hired entertainment. [24], The prelude to the opera begins with very soft, very high strings depicting the frail heroine, followed by the main love theme of the opera, which is then played on lower strings while the higher instruments decorate the melody. Fearing that Baron will become angry and challenge Alfredo to a duel, she asks him to leave the party. When Alfredo sees her, he shouts to Baron that she will be leaving with him. Scene 1: Violetta's country house outside Paris. Like Violetta in the opera, Duplessis had conquered Parisian society with her wit, charm, and beauty, but her reign was a brief one—she died of tuberculosis in 1847 at age 23. [5] However, Julian Budden notes that Verdi had probably read the Dumas novel some time before, and, after seeing the play and returning to Italy, "he was already setting up an ideal operatic cast for it in his mind,"[6] shown by his dealings with La Fenice. 45, for clarinet and orchestra (published Ricordi, 1865); in it, Lovreglio used the overture and several arias from the opera. She tells him that she is, but he replies that she must take better care of herself; he says that if she were his, he would always watch over her. Francesco Maria Piave. Full of passion, he asks her to Paris. Giuseppe Verdi. While the guests dance in the next room, Violetta looks at her pale face in her mirror. Featuring one of the most iconic, romantic and tragic scores of all time, Verdi’s masterpiece contrasts spectacular party scenes with tender, intimate moments. A number of young men arrive in the wake of Flora, another courtesan, and Flora’s lover, the Marquis d’Obigny. [3] La traviata has become immensely popular and is among the most frequently performed of all operas.[4]. At the party, the Marquis tells Flora that Violetta and Alfredo have separated, much to the amazement of everyone who had previously seen the happy couple. Piave and Verdi wanted to follow Dumas in giving the opera a contemporary setting, but the authorities at La Fenice insisted that it be set in the past, "c. 1700". The heroine is a fallen woman who earns redemption through sacrifice—a notion that was somewhat risqué at the time—although not forbidden by censors. Violetta, not feeling well, tells the crowd to go to the adjacent room to dance. Giorgio tries to stop Alfredo, but he rushes out. Not everyone has the chance to go out and see an opera. His father shows up and denounces his son's behavior. One subject was chosen, Piave set to work, and then Verdi threw in another idea, which may have been La traviata. He tells her that he confessed to Alfredo that it was his fault for her sudden separation. Over the years many versions were created, varying from theater to theater depending on the instruments available, but none of them is authoritative. Violetta Valéry, a famed courtesan, throws a lavish party at her Paris salon to celebrate her recovery from an illness. Of the primary cast members, only the soprano who played Violetta (Fanny Salvini-Donatelli) was adequate as a singer. That afternoon, their maid, Annina, returns to the house. Violetta has given up her courtesan lifestyle, and all is happy and calm. In addition, personal affairs in his home town limited his activities that spring, but after Rigoletto's success in Venice, an additional commission was offered by Brenna, the secretary of La Fenice. Writing to Piave, he added that "I don't want any of those everyday subjects that one can find by the hundreds. While walking to the salon, Gastone tells Violetta that Alfredo loves her, and that while she was ill, he came to her house every day. The composer had already read the novel and had begun to conceive of an opera based on the story. edited by Colin Bradbury for clarinet and piano (London: Chester Music, 1980): https://www.worldcat.org/title/fantasia-sull-opera-la-traviata-di-g-verdi-for-clarinet-piano-op-45/oclc/495943141, https://searchworks.stanford.edu/view/279609, International Music Score Library Project, 10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.O005794, Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano Giuseppe Verdi, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=La_traviata&oldid=983018683, Articles with dead external links from September 2020, Articles with International Music Score Library Project links, Short description is different from Wikidata, Pages using multiple image with manual scaled images, Wikipedia articles incorporating the Cite Grove template, Wikipedia articles incorporating the Cite Grove template with a doi parameter, Wikipedia articles with MusicBrainz work identifiers, Wikipedia articles with SUDOC identifiers, Wikipedia articles with WorldCat-VIAF identifiers, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, There is a film version of the opera from 1967, with. Now Violetta laughs at him, and he chides her for being heartless. reported Piave (who had overseen the production in Verdi's absence). La Traviata is one of the cornerstones of the operatic repertory. She finally gives in to his request. After the famous "Brindisi", an offstage band plays a series of waltzes (waltz rhythms pervade the first act of the opera, creating a Parisian atmosphere). End the end, Violetta's fears come to pass when Baron challenges Alfredo to a duel. When he sees them, Alfredo loudly proclaims that he will take Violetta home with him. Left alone, Violetta wonders if she could ever truly be in love and if it was Alfredo who awakened that unaccustomed feeling in her (“Ah, fors’è lui”). However, within a short time, a synopsis was dispatched to Venice under the title of Amore e morte (Love and Death). English Translation of "Sempre Libera" from Verdi's "La Traviata", Lyrics and Translation of "Addio Del Passato" From "La Traviata", La Rondine Synopsis - The Story of Puccini’s 3 Act Opera, B.A., Classical Music and Opera, Westminster Choir College of Rider University. [8] However, as Budden reveals, Verdi writes to his friend De Sanctis telling him that "for Venice I'm doing La Dame aux camélias which will probably be called La traviata. Verdi was filled with premonitions of disaster upon his arrival in Venice on 21 February for rehearsals and he made his unhappiness clear to the singers. Verdi and Giuseppina Strepponi had visited Paris from late 1851 and into March 1852. La Traviata, an opera by Giuseppe Verdi, is a love story shrouded in sacrifice and misunderstanding. He is asked to give a speech, but when he refuses, the crowd turns to Alfredo. (Verdi had previously attempted to persuade the manager of La Fenice to re-cast the role with a younger woman, but with no success.) The doctor tells Annina that Violetta's tuberculosis has significantly progressed and that she only has a few days left to live. Annina rushes in the room to tell Violetta of Alfredo's arrival. Flora tells the annoyed Baron that it would have been better for him to have kept silent. [10], While there were demands for productions from impresarios in various Italian cities, Verdi was loath to allow them unless he could be sure of the strength of the singers, and in spite of their pleas, the composer refused. ("Ignoble insulter of women, go away from here, you fill us with horror!"). Gastone asks the Baron to propose a toast; the Baron refuses, so Gastone turns to Alfredo, who hesitates until Violetta assures him that it would please her. When La traviata premiered, audience members openly mocked the idea that she could possibly be a desirable courtesan, let alone one wasting away from tuberculosis. He then leads everyone in a lively drinking song (“Libiamo”), and the attraction between the two becomes clear. With La Traviata, Verdi and Piave fashioned an opera from a play set in contemporary times—an exception in the composer’s long career.Dumas’s La Dame aux Camélias was a meditation on the author’s youthful affair with the celebrated prostitute Marie Duplessis, known as a sophisticated and well-read woman whose charms and tact far surpassed her station. Based upon the 1852 play by Alexandre Dumas fils (La Dame aux camélias), the opera marked a large step forward for Verdi in his quest to express dramatic ideas in music. After the party is over and the guests are departing, she contemplates Alfredo and asks herself if he is actually the man for her. "[12], Coincidentally, as Philips-Matz points out, an Italian translation of the play La Dame aux camélias was being presented just a short distance from La Fenice. [21], Today, the opera has become immensely popular and is a staple of the standard operatic repertoire.[4]. Gastone drops in from the ballroom to see what is going on, and Violetta assures him there is nothing. She can barely control her sadness and tears; she tells him repeatedly of her unconditional love (Violetta: Amami, Alfredo, amami quant'io t'amo – "Love me, Alfredo, love me as I love you"). Singing the famous aria, Sempre Libera, she decides that she loves freedom more than love, while Alfredo is heard outside singing about romance. Alfredo suspects that the Baron is behind his separation with Violetta, and the party invitation, which he finds on the desk, strengthens his suspicions. [25], Piave to Carlo Marzari at La Fenice announcing that the libretto was complete, 20 October 1852, in, harvnb error: no target: CITEREFParker2002 (. Flora learns of Alfredo's and Violetta's separation but is intent on her hosting duties. But she can offer him only friendship and urges him to forget her (duet: “Un dì felice”). Alfredo leaves with handfuls of money. Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. Luckily, there are DVDs. Italian. As Violetta lays in her bed, she reads a letter sent by Giorgio telling her that Baron was only wounded in the duel. Unfortunately, she was 38 years old and overweight. The character of Violetta dominates the work and her music changes as she develops through the drama, from the hectic, almost hysterical coloratura of the first act, to the more dramatic passages of the second, and the spiritual quality of her music as she departs life in act 3. Meanwhile, he reluctantly becomes impressed by Violetta's nobility, something which he did not expect from a courtesan.