La Traviata
Giuseppe Verdi (1813 – 1901)
Film screening from Festival d’Aix En Provence (2011)
Opera in three acts. Libretto by Francesco Maria Piave. It was first performed on 6 March 1853 at the La Fenice opera house in Venice.
Music Direction: Louis Langrée
Director: Jean-François Sivadier
Scenography: Alexandre de Dardel
Costumes: Virginie Gervaise
Light: Philippe Berthomé
Makeup, Wigs: Cecile Kretschmar
Contributing writer: Véronique Timsit
Violetta Valery: Natalie Dessay
Alfredo Germont: Charles Castronovo
Giorgio Germont: Ludovic Tezier
Flora Bervoix: Silvia from La Muela
Annina: Adelina Scarabelli
Gastone, visconte of Letorieres: Manuel Nuñez Camelino
Barone Douphol: Kostas Smoriginas
Marchese d’Obigny: Andrea Mastroni
Dottor Grenvil: Maurizio Lo Piccolo
Giuseppe: Mati Turi
Flora’s servant: Rainer Vilu
Commissioner: Uku Joller
Servant: Rachid Zanouda
Head of choir Mikk Uleoja
Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir
London Symphony Orchestra
Former artist of the European Academy of Music
Production of the Aix-en-Provence Festival 2011
In co-production with the Wiener Staatsoper and the Dijon Opera
Co-producer: Caen Theater
With the assistance of the department of Hauts-de-Seine / Albert-Kahn Museum
The opera was originally titled Violetta, after the main character. Based upon the 1852 play by Alexandre Dumas fils (La Dame aux camélias), the opera marked a large step forward for Verdi in his quest to express dramatic ideas in music. La traviata means “the fallen woman” or “the one who goes astray” and refers to the main character, Violetta Valéry, a courtesan. The opera features some of the most challenging and revered music in the entire soprano repertoire; the aria “Sempre libera” at the end of Act I is especially well known.
