Opera Explained | La Traviata by Giuseppe Verdi (Audio)

Written by Thomson Smillie, narrated by David Timson.

In the second half of the nineteenth century, composer Giuseppe Verdi dominated the Italian opera scene and in 1853, he composed La traviata. As with all of Verdi’s operas, La traviata deals with human emotions – love, envy, jealousy, loyalty and hatred. Translating to ‘The Fallen Woman’, La traviata is a tragic tale about Parisian courtesan, Violetta, who attempts to leave the life she knows behind, in an attempt to finally find true love. After meeting the romantic Alfredo, their love is played out against the hypocrisy of upper-class fashionable society – and Violetta must pay the ultimate price.

La Traviata owes its enduring popularity to a superb story of young love and fatal sacrifice, set to music by Italy’s master melodist at the peak of his powers. Interest and poignancy are added by the fact that this is a true story the baritone ‘heavy’ is Alexander Dumas who wrote The Count of Monte Cristo. But it is the central figure, the heroine Violetta, the archetypal ‘whore with the heart of gold’ who dominates the piece. It is her opera and we love her for it. A superb ‘human interest’ story, a captivating cast of characters, and music which is both enchanting and insightful: just some of La Traviata’s ingredients explaining its enduring popularity.

Verdi was a great theatrical craftsman. In fact he was much more, because while his music could be ravishingly beautiful and exciting (La Traviata is one of the most prodigally melodic scores in the entire repertoire), it could also contain great psychological depth. Listen to the very opening bars of the Act I Prelude: the sense of nostalgia, of déja` vu, is overwhelming. Listen to how the simple melody of love, first introduced in the charming love duet, becomes an all-consuming expression of passion in Violetta’s renunciation, and later a dry husk of itself as Violetta lies dying.

There’s no doubt about it, La Traviata deserves its place in the hearts and minds of opera lovers the world over as a work that is thrilling theatre, great music, and a profound expression of the human condition.

Tracklist:
1. Introduction
2. Based on a true story
3. Act I: Alfredo and Violetta meet at a party
4. Violetta
5. Violetta: 'Sempre libera'
6. Act II: In the country
7. The arrival of Germont
8. Violetta leaves for Paris, Alfredo follows
9. Back in Paris - A Party
10. Germont's entrance: Violetta's love
11. Act III: Paris in mid-winter
12. Alfredo and Violetta reunited
13. Violetta's death

Interpreters:
Monika Krause
Yordy Ramiro
Georg Tichy

Slovak Philharmonic Chorus
Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra
Conducted by Alexander Rahbari

Next: Aida by Giuseppe Verdi
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