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Setting: Paris and the surrounding area, circa 1850
ACT ONE
Violetta Valéry, the beautiful friend of Baron Duphol, is entertaining guests at her house. The charming and attractive lady, who frequents the Parisian circles, attempts, in vain, to conceal the pain she is suffering due to her delicate health, by immersing herself in pure enjoyment. In fact, after a short period of time she is forced to interrupt her dance with Alfredo Germont, her secret admirer whom she has just met, due to an acute coughing fit. Her guest is deeply moved by her suffering and on an impulse declares his feelings for her. Violetta gives him a present of a Camelia, promising to see him again when the flower has withered. The party ends; as soon as she is alone, the woman feels for the first time an intense feeling and ardently desires to meet with the young Alfredo.
ACT TWO
Scene I
A country villa outside Paris
The two lovers have established themselves in a little country villa outside Paris, happy and without a care. Violetta, in fact, doesn't accept the party invitation which her friend Flora Bervoix has sent her. Alfredo discovers from Violetta's maid that Violetta has sold some of her jewels to pay their expenses. He goes to Paris to obtain some money to repay the sacrifices his loved one has made from them. Meanwhile, while Alfredo is absent, his father Giorgio Germont arrives unexpectedly and pleads with Violetta to break off her sinful affair with his son, for it is a dishonour for the family and is ruining Alfredo's financial situation. Violetta, however, shows him proof that it is she, in fact, who has financed everything he sees around him.
The delicate Violetta is torn between the harsh words of her loved one's father and her love for Alfredo. She defends her feelings but Germont reveals that the relationship is, in fact, impeding his daughter's marriage. On hearing this Violetta resigns herself to the sacrifice. When Alfredo returns he meets Violetta who is just leaving the cottage, but he thinks she is just going on a brief errand. He learns the truth when he receives her goodbye note and is grief stricken. Subsequently, he is embittered, however, when he comes across the invitation to Flora Bervoix's party. He runs off in search of a way to gain revenge.
Scene II
Paris. Flora Bervoix's party
Distressed but reconciled to the fact that she must keep an unbridgeable distance from her recent experience with love, Violetta returns to frequenting the glamorous Parisian society. She arrives at Flora's party alongside Baron Duphol. Alfredo has already arrived at the party and when he sees the baron, he challenges him to a game of cards. The latter loses a small fortune to Alfredo and Violetta is fearful of the consequences. She pleads with Alfredo to leave the party, but when he replies that he is only prepared to leave in her company, the young woman is forced to lie. She reveals that she has promised the baron that she will not see Alfredo any more and this information causes pure anger to arise in the young man. In front of all present, he throws the money he has just won in the card game with contempt at Violetta's feet, intending in this way to pay back the expenses she has incurred. Alfredo's father is witness to the shameful gesture and reproaches his son for it, without having the courage, however, to reveal the truth to him.
ACT THREE
Paris. The bedroom of the dying Violetta
The sorrowful scene is due to the precarious health of Violetta, who is, at this stage, confined to her bed without hope. A letter from Alfredo's father comforts her marginally, because he informs her of having disclosed the secret to his son and announces that Alfredo will soon be arriving to implore forgiveness. Violetta waits anxiously for the moment where she can embrace her loved one and hopes for a future full of happiness with him. But the encounter transforms into a bitter-sweet moment: Violetta has only the strength to give him a present of a locket, and to whisper that from heaven she will pray for him. She then exhales her final breath.
- Francesco Maria Piave
- Giuseppe Verdi
Authors
Cast and Creative team for La Traviata at Arena di Verona
Libretto by
Francesco Maria Piave
Conductor Andrea Battistoni
Director Hugo De Ana
Francesco Maria Piave
Conductor Andrea Battistoni
Director Hugo De Ana
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