La Traviata: genesis of a 19th century cult and pop opera

Alexandre Dumas Fils wrote La Dame aux camélias in one go in 1848, a few months after the death of the very young Marie Alphonsine Duplessis from consumption. The courtesan he himself had passionately loved took the name of Marguerite Gautier, between the lines of the heartbreaking novel.

The following year Alexandre Dumas himself made a theatrical version of it, which, after being blocked by the censors, was finally able to be staged in 1852 at the Théâtre de Vaudeville.

For the Parisian public it was a real shock! The scenes of the show reproduced the elegant living rooms of private homes, the actors wore the clothes of luxurious Paris sitting in the room… But it was the open accusation of the social hypocrisy of the bourgeois class, shared by all, that shocked the Paris audience!

We know, scandal opens the doors to success! And the play, for the first time, obtained more than one hundred consecutive performances.

At one of the many, in the audience, there was Giuseppe Verdi, who with extraordinary timing, took the subject of Traviata, with a libretto by Francesco Maria Piave.

Too transgressive for a popular genre like opera, the era of the story was backdated from the contemporary to the 18th century. Even the names of the protagonists change and Violetta Valery takes Marguerite’s place… always names of flowers, however, signifying the transience of their existences.

La Traviata was performed for the first time at the Fenice in Venice on 6 March 1853, just a year after the Paris premiere of Dumas fils’ text. As is known, it was a sensational fiasco; but the subsequent revival, a few months later, again in Venice, at the Teatro di San Benedetto, with better performers and Verdi himself on the podium, was a resounding success.

Franco Zeffirelli directed Verdi’s masterpiece eight times (nine with that of the Arena), from 1958 in Dallas, with Maria Callas, to 2019 in Verona, also creating the sets, and in 1983 he directed a film version, with Teresa Stratas and Placido Domingo, which received numerous awards, including the BAFTA for best scenography (to Gianni Quaranta and Franco Zeffirelli) and best costumes (to Piero Tosi).