Ukrainian Soprano Yulia Lysenko to Headline LA TRAVIATA at Piedmont Opera

Piedmont Opera will open its 45th anniversary season with one of the world's most beloved operas, Verdi's La traviata, a love story trapped between two worlds. Violetta, a courtesan serving Paris' elite society, encounters Alfredo, an earnest young man genuinely in love with her. His affection wins Violetta over, and she chooses to leave her life behind and live only for Alfredo, but at what cost to them both. Directed by award-winning director Dr. Steven LaCosse, La traviata has inspired popular films from Pretty Woman to Moulin Rouge.

La Traviata, also known as The Fallen Woman, is based on the life of Marie Duplessis. She rose from poverty to become one of 19th-century Paris's most celebrated courtesans before dying at age 23 from tuberculosis. Author Alexandre Dumas (one of her many lovers and son of Alexandre who penned The Three Musketeers) based his romantic novel La Dame aux Camélias on their brief affair. He subsequently adapted it into a hugely successful play, upon which Verdi based his opera.

The cast is led by Ukrainian soprano Yulia Lysenko, the former prima donna at the Ukrainian opera house in Lviv. Prima donna has a different connotation outside of the United States. Opera houses in other countries have full-time, salaried opera singers who perform year-round for a specific house. The prima is the best singer in that company.

Yulia Lysenko emigrated to the United States after starting her career at the Lviv National Opera. She was the first-place winner of the International Competition Mystetztvo XXI (Kyiv, Ukraine). She appeared on the television show Zirki v Operi, the Ukrainian adaptation of the British hit show Popstar to Operastar.

Yulia has thrilled audiences throughout Asia and Europe in principal roles before she arrived in the states. She made her American debut at the Princeton Festival in 2018 in the title role of Madama Butterfly and joined Piedmont Opera for Mimi in La boheme later that year. She returned to star as Elisabeth in Mary, Queen of Scots where she had to have mean girl lessons because the role was in such contrast to her personality!

Piedmont Opera's production of Verdi's La traviata is performed at the Stevens Center of the UNCSA on Friday, October 21st at 8:00 p.m., Sunday, October 23rd at 2:00 PM and Tuesday, October 25th at 7:30 p.m. James Allbritten, the company's Artistic Director, will conduct; Steven LaCosse is the Stage Director. Other principals include Orson Van Gay, II, as Alfredo and Robert Overman as Giorgio Germont.

Tickets range from $20 to $95 and are available by calling 336.725.7101 or visit PiedmontOpera.org.

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