Verdi - La Traviata

The opera is adapted from Alexandre Dumas fils's 1848 novel and subsequent play, "The Lady of the Camellias" (La Dame aux Camélias). It tells the tragic story of a courtesan named Marguerite, who was renamed Violetta Valéry for the opera.

The opera premiered on March 6, 1853, at the famous La Fenice opera house in Venice. The opening night was notoriously a massive disaster due to poor casting and contemporary staging choices.

Violetta's first-act aria "Sempre libera" (Always free) is one of the most notoriously difficult pieces in the soprano repertoire. It requires incredible breath control and vocal agility to perform the rapid, stratospheric coloratura runs.

Verdi originally wanted to set the opera in the contemporary 19th century, but strict censors in Italy forced him to move the setting back to the 1700s. They found the idea of a modern, morally loose leading woman too scandalous to allow on stage.