La traviata (Verdi)

Overview

La traviata is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave, based on Alexandre Dumas fils's play La Dame aux camélias (1852), itself adapted from his 1848 novel. It was first performed at La Fenice, Venice, on 6 March 1853 and was originally titled Violetta (Wikipedia, "La traviata"). The title means "the woman led astray".

Marie and this work

La Traviata is the opera that displaces Mignon for her in 1876: the one in which someone dies.

• 20 April 1876, Naples. She hears it for the first time in a box on the left (059.0064): "Je pensais qu'il n'y avait que Mignon et Faust ; il y a aussi La Traviata, sujet et musique tout est vivant et naturel. On s'attaque à Verdi comme on s'attaque à Dumas, pourquoi ? parce que ces deux hommes amusent, émeuvent, transportent leur public" (059.0065). "J'en ai presque pleuré" (059.0067); it makes her dream of Pietro (059.0074).
• 18-19 May 1876, Rome. She buys the score and sings it constantly (060.0513); "Avant je pleurais sur Mignon, à présent je pleure sur la musique de La Traviata. Mignon me paraît une bourgeoisie. J'explique cela tout naïvement parce que personne ne meurt" (060.0581).
• 27 May 1876, Nice. La Traviata sung in French at the Théâtre Français, from a small ground-floor box left by Barnola (061.0218).
• 12 February 1878, Paris. With Albani, Capoul and Pandolfini in the cast: "Grands artistes, mais cela ne m'a pas plu", though in the last act she feels she will suffer and die (078.0126).
• 3 March 1878. The street noise of the carnival recalls the last act: "il va sans dire que je suis Violette" (078.0349).
• 24 February 1879, Nice. Patti with Nicolini, who is separated from his wife as she is from the Marquis de Caux (084.0293).
• 17 February 1880, Paris. "Encore une soirée à sensation. Patti dans La Traviata": they hold a Tuesday subscription (087.0503). On 16 March she lists the roles she has seen Patti in (087.0623).

Nickname

"La Traviata" is also Marie's name for La Righi, the mistress of Larderel (059.0192, 059.0445 with footnote, 068.1505); these are not references to the opera.

Sources

• Wikipedia, "La traviata".
• Libretto (Internet Archive), IMSLP.