La Traviata, Baths of Caracalla
La Traviata is perhaps Giuseppe Verdi's best-known and most-loved opera nowadays, but its premiere on 6 March 1853 at the Teatro la Fenice in Venice did not hint at any such accolade. Its subject matter and unfortunate casting almost doomed the work to the ashes of history. Thankfully, Verdi persevered, and La Traviata continues to delight and touch audiences to this day, as its performance at the Baths of Caracalla will confirm.
Apart from musical genius, Verdi also had a knack for progressive plot lines that often challenged the prevailing social norm. For La Traviata, he and faithful librettist Francesco Maria Piave adapted La dame aux camelias by Alexandre Dumas. Dumas, in turn, drew inspiration from the life story of courtesan Marie Duplessis, a disarmingly beautiful, impressively intelligent, and impossibly tragic character who blazed through Parisian high society.
In the opera, the enthralling lead character is called Violetta Valery. Despite her cynical views of romantic love, she finds her feelings for young Alfredo Germont grow so deep that she turns a new page in her life to be with him. However, Alfredo's father Giorgio interferes and convinces Violetta she is destroying his son's good name.
Heartbroken, Violetta agrees to leave Alfredo and goes back to her old life. As her health is fading fast, the young man learns of her sacrifice and rushes to her. The two share an emotional reunion and Violetta dies in her true love's arms, happy that she got to feel true love.
Heartbroken, Violetta agrees to leave Alfredo and goes back to her old life. As her health is fading fast, the young man learns of her sacrifice and rushes to her. The two share an emotional reunion and Violetta dies in her true love's arms, happy that she got to feel true love.
To draw us into La Traviata's tragic narrative, Verdi unfolds the full storytelling potential of his music. From the overture's steady crescendo that slowly immerses the listener into the opera's emotionally charged atmosphere to the well-known arias, duets, and choruses, every note tells a story.
The musical development which the leads undergo is a masterclass in operatic characterisation. Violetta's emotional depths and inner struggles are beautifully reflected in music, once in the gentle 'Un di felice, eterea', to be followed by the free-spirited, defiant 'Sempre libera'. Alfredo's emotionally charged 'O mio rimorso!', on the other hand, craftily displays the impetuousness of his youth.
Verdi's masterful composition, including the famous chorus 'Libiamo ne' lieti calici', will move you profoundly as La Traviata graces the stage of Terme di Caracalla in Rome.