Foto: © Bettina Stöß
Libretto by Francesco Maria Piave based on the novelle
„La dame aux camélias“ by Alexandre Dumas fils
First performed on 6. March, 1853 in Venice
Premiered at the Deutsche Oper Berlin on 20. November, 1999
Recommended from 13 years on
La Traviata was Verdi's only opera to be set among the Parisian middle classes of the day. It is based on the acclaimed novel "The Lady of the Camellias" by Alexandre Dumas fils, which is a critical portrayal of the Parisian demi-monde and charts the story of Marie Duplessis, a noble courtesan who died from consumption in 1847 at the age of 23. While Dumas paid considerable attention to social networks and relationships, Verdi and his librettist Francesco Maria Piave focused entirely on the conflict between Violetta, Alfredo and his father Giorgio. Their drama concerns itself only with internal conflicts and focuses on the three phases in the fortunes of Violetta Valery - love, renunciation and death.
By presenting Violetta's tribulations in the form of a retrospective narrative Götz Friedrich has given his tragedy the atmosphere of a requiem. No sooner has the opera begun than we see the protagonist on her deathbed, surrounded by the dark vastness of the stage, which resembles a gigantic tomb. As the ball begins Violetta, now in ballroom attire, rises from the bed, which has become a divan. Suddenly the doors burst open and in pours the frolicking Parisian crowd, intent on its frivolous entertainment. The flashback begins. Shunning sentimentality and trivial frankness, Friedrich's production reaches deep into the characters, laying bare the inner drama and bringing the gloom and fatalism of the piece to the fore.
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SUCHE