Opera Composer Verdi's "La Traviata"

Verdi's "La Traviata," an opera in three acts, is founded on Dumas' "Dame aux Camelias," familiar to the English stage as "Camille." The original play is supposed to represent phases of modern French life, but the Italian libretto changes the period to the year 1700, in the days of Louis XIV.

The opera was first produced in Venice, Italy, on March 6, 1853, with the following cast of the principal parts:

  • Violetta: Mme. Donatelli
  • Alfredo: M. Graziani
  • Germont: M. Varesi.

The opera at its first production was a complete failure, though this was due more to the singers than to the music. It is said that when the doctor announced in the third act that Mme. Donatelli, who impersonated the consumptive heroine and who was one of the stoutest

ladies ever seen on the stage, had but a few days to live, the whole audience broke out into roars of laughter.

Time has brought its consolations to the composer, however, for "La Traviata" is now one of the most popular operas in the modern repertory.

The story as told by the librettist simply resolves itself into three principal scenes: the supper at Violetta's house, where she makes the acquaintance of Alfred; the ball at the house of Flora; and the death scene and reconciliation, linked together by recitative, so that the dramatic unity of the original is lost to a certain extent.

Plot Summary: Act One

The first act of "La Traviata" opens with a merry party in Violetta's house. Among the crowd about her is Alfred Germont, a young man from Provence, who is passionately in love with her. The sincerity of his passion finally influences her to turn aside from her life of voluptuous pleasure and to cherish a similar sentiment for him.

Plot Synopsis: Act Two

In the next act, we find Violetta living in seclusion with her lover in a country house in the surrounding area of Paris, to support which she has sold her property in the city. When Alfred discovers this he refuses to be the recipient of her bounty and sets out for Paris to recover the property.

During Alfred's absence, his father, who has discovered his retreat, visits Violetta and pleads with her to forsake Alfred, not only on his own account but to save his family from disgrace. Touched by the father's grief, she consents and secretly returns to Paris, where she once more resumes her old life.

At a ball given by Flora Belvoix, one of Violetta's associates, Alfred meets her again, overwhelms her with reproaches and insults her by flinging her miniature at her feet in presence of the whole company.

Plot Summary: Act Three

Stung by her degradation, Violetta goes home to die and too late Alfred learns the real sacrifice she has made. He hastens to comfort her, but she dies forgiving and blessing him.

Resources

Upton, George (1897). The Standard Operas: Their Plots, Their Music, and Their Composersa Handbook. Chicago: A. C. McClurg and Company.