LA TRAVIATA Comes to Den Norske Opera

The dazzling favourite among audiences is back! For 170 years, La Traviata has celebrated the ‘fallen woman’ – while also showing who she really is when the party ends. Performances run 23 November–​17 January at Den Norske Opera. 

Violetta Valéry lives in a world where there’s no such thing as too much sparkle, status or sensation. No one plays the role of working girl better than her – even when suffering from a fatal illness. 

Her meeting with the poet Alfredo becomes her first encounter with freedom and love. Will she dare to love or continue in the same role until she dies? 

Free or fallen? 

We find ourselves in Paris in 1925 in the Golden Age of Art Deco. Director Rodula Gaitanou explores the boundaries between the roles we play – and who we truly are. 

Giuseppe Verdi’s light violins are almost gasping for air. In contrast, we hear the voracious party music of the bordello, where Violetta triumphantly sings ‘Sempre Libera!’ – always free.  

La Traviata is the third in Verdi’s La trilogia popolare – a hitlist that also includes Rigoletto and The Troubadour. 

The narrative is based on a true story and the novel The Lady of the Camellias by Alexandre Dumas. In reality, Marie Duplessis was a famous courtesan in Parisian high society. The character Alfredo, Violetta’s lover, is inspired by Dumas’ own life story.  

Verdi’s political opera was denounced at the time, as many believed that it encouraged sexual promiscuity. The English doctor William Acton called the phenomenon Traviata-ism. The expression described the insight gained by the audience as they walked home from the opera – along Haymarket in London – and discovered Violettas everywhere. 

Her story has since been told over and over again, such as in the films Pretty Womanand Moulin Rouge! – as well as in the countless productions of Verdi’s opera. 

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