Immortal “Fallen Woman” (La Traviata) in Charlotte

By Tatyana Thulien

www.operacarolina.org

This music penetrates the heart from the very first sounds of the overture and becomes “love forever”. Each note of this opera is permeated with sincere feelings and inspiration of its’ creator. … (not a single “passing melody”, not a single superfluous word, by the way…) The selfless passion and sacrifice of the doomed courtesan found eternal life in “La Traviata” – the brilliant work of the Italian composer, Giuseppe Verdi.

Courtesan on the Grand Opera’ stage. The plot.

The plot of the opera takes place in Paris in the middle of the XIX century. The courtesan Violetta, in celebration of her recovery, arranges a magnificent reception in her beautiful house. Violetta’s living room is full of friends, laughter sounds, dance music, fun is everywhere … Among the guests is Alfredo Germont who recently arrived in the capital. Alfredo falls in love with Violetta at first sight and has no intentions to hide the brisk attraction. She is pleasantly surprised by such a manifestation of feelings and pays attention to him, despite the displeasure of the Baron, her patron and lover. Alfredo’s sincere confessions touch her heart, and she, despite many doubts, schedules a rendezvous. Love truly sparkles between the two.

Violetta and Alfredo leave Paris and prefer living together in a small country house. They are astoundingly in love with each other, but their life does not become completely happy: Alfredo does not earn anything, and Violetta secretly sells some of her property. Alfredo finds out about this and leaves for Paris to settle financial issues. In his absence, Alfredo’s father, George Germont, pays a visit to Violetta. He asks her to stop the disgraceful affiliation with his son – their relationship casts a shadow on the whole family and jeopardizes the wedding of Alfredo’s sister. Arguing of the short-term life of men’s passion, Germont breaks the spirit of the poor Violetta, who gives him the word that she will leave Alfredo forever…

At Flora’s ball (Violette’s friend, also a courtesan), Alfredo is lucky in the gambling game. By the time Baron and Violetta arrive, he’s already won enough and is drunk enough. Having tried unsuccessfully to talk to his sweetheart, Alfredo, being upset and heated, throws money in her face in front of everyone as payment for the time she spent with him. Germont shames his son.

After this, Violetta no longer gets out of bed. The doctor leaves no hope, but suddenly Alfredo appears, having learned from his father about the reasons that forced her to part with him. Germont also arrives, begging for forgiveness. It seems to the poor thing that she is getting better, but in a moment, with words of joy on her lips, she dies.

So, what has inspired Verdi, what prompted the already famous composer to write an opera about the courtesan that became the most performed opera in history?

Du Plessis, Dumas and Verdi.

In 1852, Verdi arrives in Paris for a spectacle based on the Alexandre Dumas-son “La Dame aux Camélias” novel. Alexandre wanting to keep up with his eminent father, the author of “The Three Musketeers”, “The Count of Monte Cristo” and other famous books, writes a novel based on femme fatal story – the courtesan Marie Duplessis (real name Alphonsine Rose Plessis), who lived in the first half of the XIX century and died quite young of tuberculosis. 

Marie, a young woman of an extraordinary beauty, became a courtesan at the age of 16. Born in the small township Nonant-le-Pin, in Normandy, she becomes a true “daughter of Paris”, where she arrives looking for better life. Not only she quickly learns to read and write, but also becomes a hostess of the popular literature salon. Mary was also able to converse with her prominent clients and guests on various topics, including politics, and gained a reputation of discrete, intelligent, and witty companion.  By the way, she won the heart of not only Dumas-son, with whom she lived during the summer of 1845, but many other influential men, including the greatest pianist of the century, Franz Liszt… 

An interesting fact that we may find reflected in the libretto of “La Traviata” – Dumas-son and Plessis’s breakup and the subsequent yearlong Dumas-son’s traveling was attributed by rumor to the insistence of his father (Alfredo’s father, Germont played the fatal role ruining his son’s relationship). Returning to Paris, Dumas-son did not find Marie Duplessis alive – she died of tuberculosis in 1847. When the novel The Lady of the Camellias appeared shortly thereafter,

“La Dame aux camélias” was well received by readers; in fact, well enough to be remade into a play that had a resounding success, and now the tragic love story of Marguerite Gauthier and Armand Duval touched the great Verdi to tears and completely captured the composer’s imagination. Impressed by such an emotionally presented concept of eternal femininity and eternal sacrifice on the altar of Ultimate Love, he decides to take a very risky step – to write an opera, the main character of which is a fallen woman. The very name “La Traviata” in translation from Italian means “fallen” or “lost” woman.

Giuseppe orders the libretto to his longtime colleague and friend, Francesco Maria Piave, with whom they had already created five operas at that time, including “Rigoletto”. Inspiration seizes the composer so much that he writes the score at an unprecedented speed – from the moment the first notes were created in December 1852, to the full score completion, it takes just over forty days. And that even though in January 1853, preparations were underway in Rome for the premiere of “Il trovatore”, in which Verdi was directly involved! In fact, Verdi was working on “La Traviata” libretto while traveling by train from Rome to Venice… 

(It is fair to say, that the story of the appalling relationship touched the composer very deeply also because it echoed his own life. Having connected his fate with the singer Giuseppina Strepponi, whos’ reputation was not perfect, and who had three children from different men, none of whom was her husband, Verdi lived in an atmosphere of public censure for 12 years. Giuseppina and Giuseppe were married only in 1859. They did not have children of their own but in 1867 adapted a niece).

А fiasco defeated by the genius of music

On March 6, 1853, the premiere of “La Traviata” took place at the Venetian theater “La Fenice” and turned into… a huge fiasco. The audience was not ready for such a plot: a courtesan as the central character. In addition, on the stage, the audience found their contemporary, whose appearance and costume did not differ at all from the decent society ladies, who came to listen to the opera. At that time, it was an untouchable zone, and even the famous Verdi could not get away with such an appeal to a contemporary. To crown it all, the audience was disappointed with the quality of the performance – one of the problems that the directors of the opera faced, was the choice of the main role singer. All the “house” sopranos were of a very large forms, which in no way corresponded to the image of Violetta, ill by tuberculosis. But there were no other vocalists: Fanny Salvini-Donatelli, the first Violetta, did sing beautifully, and with inspiration, while slightly coughing, but the soloist’s ample curves not matching the image of the consumptive Violetta caused laughter in the house. 

(Speaking of, Fanny was an actress of an outstanding life path – she was born into a wealthy family, but the death of her father and financial difficulties forced her to earn by becoming an actress. Funny was a well-educated person overall, she translated into French several opera librettos not only Verdi’s, but also Donizetti’s).

Despite all the jokes and taunts against Fanny, both the audience and the critics highly appreciated her singing, but still the premieres failed. However, Verdi perceives this fiasco more calmly than before – he is confident in his music. Sure enough, its genius fully protects its creator. In a year, the creators of “La Traviata” went on about the public and moved the slightly revised play a hundred years earlier. (We must also note, that “La Dame…” theatrical play was censored as well in Paris, and exactly for the same reasons! The spectacle appeared on stage after four years of battles and arguments. Just to be seen by Verdi… C’est la vie…).

All in the same place, in Venice, at the San Benedetto Theater in 1855, “La Traviata” was shown with a more successful cast of soloists living in 1700s. Since then, its’ triumphant march around the world began. Only thirty years later, the characters of the opera will be able to return from the 1700s, but as of now, the audience with great excitement went to the scandalous production, and soon, every evening, “La Traviata” brought in twice as much money as the other two Verdi operas running at “La Fenice” at the same time: “Le Corsaire” and “Ernani”.

So, why did the discerning public of sophisticated Europe, not only eventually accepted “La Traviata”, but, unconditionally, fell in love with unfortunate courtesan story? The answer can be found in the stunning music, and in the extraordinary vitality of the plot, celebrating the heroine’s astonishing sacrifice. After all, Giuseppe presented such an ambiguous main character with exceptional compassion and love. He showed her nobility, despite who she was in the eyes of society. As for the content of the opera, Verdi was extremely demanding of it. There are only a few “narrative” scenes in the play, and most of the arias, duets, and scenes with the choir work towards developing the plot.

First psychological opera?

Perhaps, for the first time in the opera genre, the characters received such reliable psychological portraits – their actions and words are utterly real, and therefore became the key to true creative immortality. Unlike “La Dame…”, the opera plot about the beautiful courtesan did not wither: “La Traviata” gave birth to three ballets, two dozen films (in 1967 the opera was directed by Mario Lanfranchi, and in 1982 the film by Franco Zeffirelli was released), hundreds of theatrical productions and even comics – you can say, the story was destined to immortality. 

We can argue, “La Traviata” became one of the very first lyrico-psychological operas in world opera literature. The world of music saw on the stage an unfolding drama of truly human intimate feelings of incredible strength and depth. The plot’s simplicity, modernity, and one could say, ordinary’s intrigue, allowed Verdi to create a sincerely realistic work, as fabulous and mesmerizing, as the canvases of the French Impressionists are, full of blindfold truthfulness, rough brush strokes and honest colors. This opera speaks of a dreadful, exhausting, all-consuming passion, which can not only rise to the level of genuine love, but also shatter human lives and destinies.

Till now, the role of Violetta must be included in the repertoire of any self-respecting soprano – after all, to this day, “La Traviata” ranks first among all operas performed in the world.

And what about Alexandre Dumas himself? What was his reaction to the creation of the “Fallen Woman”? The writer has repeatedly noted that, if it was not for “La Traviata”, everyone would have forgotten about his “Dame” in a maximum of fifty years … However, “La Dame…” still is very much alive. In the XIX century, the role of Marguerite Gauthier was played by Eleanor Duse, and in the XX century by great Sarah Bernhardt, Greta Garbo, Alla Nazimova, Sara Montiel, Norma Talmadge, Francesca Neri and Isabelle Huppert. 

Maybe this longevity was secured by “zingarelle’s” wheel of fortune spin for Marguerite? 

And one more notable moment: by the will of fate, both Anfolsine DuPlessis and Alexandre Dumas-son are buried not far from each other in the Montmartre cemetery.

New pretty faces of the fallen woman 

Did you know that the popular 1990 movie “Pretty Woman” starring Richard Gere and Julia Roberts is closely intertwined with “La Traviata”? The content of both talks about a courtesan who fell in love with a rich man. The film contains scenes related to Verdi’s opera. So, there is a scene where the character of Richard Gere (Edward) takes Julia Roberts (Vivian) to the opera house for “La Traviata”, and at the end of the film Edward climbs up the fire escape with a bunch of roses in his mouth. He basically “performs” a love serenade for Vivian to the soundtrack from “La Traviata” – the aria was arranged specifically for the film.

The immortal “La Traviata” marks the grand finale of the “Opera Carolina” spring season in Charlotte (director Sam Mungo). This time, all the cast but one soloist (Huyng Yun singing Germont) belongs to the resident company. Violetta’s role is played by Opera Carolina’s own Melinda Whittington, who started her career with the company 11 years ago, singing in the first “Eugene Onegin” Opera Carolina’s production. Today, Melinda’s beautiful and rich voice represents a seasoned singer, very much well prepared for this remarkable role. Performances, which will be conducted by Emily Jarrel Urbanek (it is Emily’s debut as a conductor!), will take place at the Belk theater on 20, 22 and 23 April.

www.operacarolina.org