Overview
Synopsis
In one of the greatest operatic love stories, Violetta Valery, a courtesan serving Paris’s high society meets the young Alfredo Germont, who offers her a taste of freedom from this life. Alfredo first met Violetta when she was suffering badly from consumption, and on visiting her every day, his initial affection for her turned into love. He offers her the chance to escape this life and live with him.
Violetta accepts, and they enjoy a dreamy romance in the countryside. However, Violetta receives a visit from Alfredo’s father, Giorgio Germont. He asks Violetta to end the relationship and leave Alfredo, so that the Germont family’s honor might be restored and his daughter’s marriage will be able to go ahead. Violetta loves Alfredo and does not want to leave him, but she makes the sacrifice and returns to her old life.
Alfredo knows nothing of the arrangement with his father, and believes Violetta has left him for financial reasons, and returned to her old relationship with Barone Douphol. He finds her in Paris, and makes an awful scene throwing money at her feet in payment for their relationship. Douphol challenges Alfredo to duel for disgracing Violetta, after which Alfredo travels abroad.
As Violetta’s illness worsens, she becomes basically bedbound, and is sustained only by the promise that Alfredo will one day return to her. Germont revealed their arrangement to his son, and has written to Violetta to tell her that Alfredo will visit. In the last moments of her life, she is reunited with the man she loves, and dies, smiling, in his arms.
Show Information
Context
Show Origins
La Traviata (“The Fallen Woman”) is Giuseppe Verdi’s 1853 opera in three acts, with an Italian libretto by his longtime collaborator Francesco Maria Piave. It is based on La Dame aux camélias, the semi-autobiographical novel (1848) and play (1852) by Alexandre Dumas fils. Dumas drew directly on his relationship with the Parisian courtesan Marie Duplessis, who died of tuberculosis in 1847; only months later he transformed their relationship into the story that would become
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Act One
Violetta Valéry, a courtesan, is hosting an exquisite party to celebrate her recovery from a long illness. Gastone, one of Violetta's friends, introduces her to Alfredo Germont, and explains that, while Violetta does not remember, Alfredo actually visited every day through her illness. Such affection is unusual for Violetta and she is touched, as a nervous Alfredo finally introduces himself to her. She thanks Alfredo for his attention, and comments that it was more than Barone
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Character Portrayals
See StageAgent members who have performed roles in La Traviata.
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Songs
Showing 8 of 18 songs
A song with an asterisk (*) before the title indicates a dance number.
Themes, Symbols & Motifs
Sacrifice and Selflessness
At the heart of La Traviata is Violetta’s profound capacity for sacrifice. Although she begins the opera as a woman accustomed to living for pleasure, she ultimately chooses to relinquish her happiness for Alfredo’s future. Her decision—prompted by Giorgio Germont’s plea—exposes the cruel hypocrisy of a society that condemns her yet readily accepts her suffering as convenient. Violetta’s selflessness, especially in Act II and the finale, stands as one of
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“Sempre libera degg’io… volerò di gioia in gioia!”
“Forever free must I be… I will fly from joy to joy!” — Violetta, Act I
Analysis: This declaration is Violetta’s attempt to cling to the carefree, pleasure-driven life she has built as protection against emotional vulnerability. Sung immediately after Alfredo professes his love, the aria captures her internal battle: the dazzling coloratura reflects a woman insisting she is “free,” while the musical quotations of Alfredo’s offstage
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Quizzes
Guide Written By:
Wendy Silvester
Singer and vocal coach based in the UK.