La traviata

Violetta Valéry
Marina Rebeka
Tina Gorina (22)

Alfredo Germont
Arturo Chacón Cruz
Giuseppe Talamo (22)

Giorgio Germont
Plácido Domingo
Luis Cansino (22)

Il Dottore Grenvil
Alejandro López *

Flora Bervoix
Anna Bychkova *

Annina
Olga Zharikova *

Gastone de Letorières
Moisés Marín *

Il Barone Douphol
Jorge Álvarez *

Il Marchese d’Obigny
Andrea Pellegrini *

Giuseppe
Antonio Gómez **

Un Commissionario
Boro Giner **

Un Servitore
Bonifaci Carrillo **

* Centre Plácido Domingo
** Cor de la Generalitat Valenciana

Act I
The outskirts of Paris around 1850. Violetta Valéry, a well-known courtesan, is hosting a party in the hall of her house in Paris. Count Gastone has attended the party with his friend Alfredo Germont, a young nobleman who has been in love with Violetta for some time. As they walk round the hall, Gastone tells Violetta that Alfredo loves her and that when she was ill he went to her house every day to enquire after her health. Alfredo joins them and confirms what Gastone has said. Baron Douphol, Violetta’s current sweetheart, waits to accompany her to the hall, where he is asked to propose a toast. He refuses, and so Alfredo asks the guests to raise their glasses.

The guests withdraw to an adjoining room where a band is playing. Violetta feels faint and asks her friends to go on ahead and let her rest until she recovers. Alfredo is concerned about her delicate health and declares his love for her. At first Violetta rejects him, but there is something about Alfredo that touches her. When the young man is about to leave, she promises to meet him the following day. The guests leave. Now alone, Violetta, who is used to a life of freedom with no ties, asks herself if the handsome suitor she has just met could be the love of her life. Alfredo’s voice can be heard off stage singing about love.

Act II
Scene I
Three months later, Alfredo and Violetta are living together in a quiet country house on the outskirts of Paris. Violetta is in love and has given up the hectic life she used to lead. Alfredo, alone, ponders joyfully on the love that has brought them together. Annina, Violetta’s maid, arrives and mentions to Alfredo that she has just sold most of her mistress’ belongings in Paris so that she can fund her quiet life in the country.

Alfredo, surprised, leaves immediately for Paris to take charge of the matter personally. Violetta returns home and receives an invitation from her friend Flora to attend a ball in Paris that very night. A servant announces a visit. It is Alfredo’s father, Giorgio Germont, who asks Violetta to leave his son, as her bad reputation is threatening his daughter’s engagement to a young man who comes from a good family. Horrified and full of remorse, Violetta finally agrees to the cruel request made by Germont. In a gesture of gratitude for her sacrifice and in admiration of her nobility, Germont kisses her forehead before he leaves her weeping.

Violetta gives a note to Annina, addressed to Flora, accepting her invitation to the ball, and she resolves to write a letter to Alfredo. He enters and she can hardly control her sorrow. She speaks repeatedly of her unconditional love for him and bids him farewell with no further explanation. Before leaving for Paris, Violetta gives the servant the letter she has written for Alfredo. When Alfredo reads the letter he feels faint. Germont appears just at that moment and tries to console his son, but Alfredo suspects that the Baron is behind the separation, as he sees Flora’s invitation to the ball lying on the desk in the Baron’s study. Furious, he decides to attend the ball that night. Germont tries to stop him but to no avail.

Scene II
At the ball, Marquis d’Obigny tells Flora that Violetta and Alfredo have broken up. The hostess calls the artists to entertain her guests. Violetta arrives with Baron Douphol and they both notice that Alfredo is playing at the games table. When he sees them together, Alfredo cries out that he will take Violetta home with him. Upset by Alfredo’s comments, the Baron sits at the table to play with him. Alfredo wins a large amount of money from his bets. Flora announces that dinner is to be served.

As everyone leaves the room, Violetta suggests that Alfredo leaves the ball, as she is afraid that the Baron’s anger will make him challenge Alfredo to a duel. The young man misinterprets her concern and asks her to admit that she is in love with the Baron, which she does much to her regret. Alfredo, furious, calls the guests as witnesses and humiliates Violetta, throwing his winnings at her as a degrading sign that he has settled his debt with her. She falls to the ground in a fainting fit. The guests reprimand Alfredo. Germont bursts into the hall, sees immediately what has happened and rebukes his son for his behaviour. The Baron challenges Alfredo to a duel.

Act III
A dreary and solitary room in Violetta’s house in Paris. Doctor Grenvil tells Annina that Violetta is dying, as her health has taken a turn for the worse with tuberculosis. Alone in her room and destitute, Violetta reads a letter from Germont and learns that only the Baron was injured in the duel with Alfredo, and that Alfredo, aware of the sacrifice she has made for him out of love, will soon return to her side. But Violetta knows it is too late.

Annina bursts into the room announcing the arrival of Alfredo. The lovers are reunited and Alfredo suggests they leave for Paris. But Violetta knows she has little time left. Alfredo’s father arrives with the doctor and regrets what he has done. Violetta dies in Alfredo’s arms.