Previous
La Traviata opera - Verdi (1853)
Next
The drinking song from 'La Traviata'

The duet between Violetta and the father in 'La Traviata'


Soundtracks:
Pretty Woman
Priscilla Queen of the Desert
Lost Weekend
In the Line of Fire
One Hundred Men and a Girl
Music mall
Watch a video movie
Performers guide
Films with classics

La Traviata (fallen woman)

Kind: Serious opera in three acts
Language: Italian
Location: Paris
Time: 19th century
Hits: The drinking song, "Sempre libera" ("I'll always be free"), "Brindisi"

An image from this opera in a production of the San Diego Opera houseThe astonishing thing about the world of opera is the constant contradiction between the dramatic occurrence onstage and the need for constant singing. One may find it a little hard to understand how heroes who die for 15 minutes, go on singing with pathos and professionality. Only people who are used to operas do not ridicule as Violetta, dying of tuberculosis, sings beautiful arias throughout the entire opera, regardless of her condition. In "La Traviata" we seriously feel the contrast between the opera medium and the story it tells. And on the other hand - this is maybe the very secret of opera's charm: everything is translated to music and singing in a noble, stylistic manner.

Based on a novel by Alexander Dumas, "The Lady with the Camellias", the opera is about the hypocrisy of human society, in which many women are exploited by men - they are good for amusement but "unfit" for respectable family life. In this opera, a prominent quality in Verdi's opera is manifested very clearly - the composer's ability to take a "time-out" in the story for wonderful moments of opera magic. In his next operas, and particularly in "Aida" and "Othelo", this feature will be even more evident.

An image from this opera in a production of the San Diego Opera houseAlfredo, son of rich parents, falls in love with Violetta, a prostitute infected with tuberculosis. His father is unpleased with the matter and persuades Violetta to leave his son, for his benefit and future. She painfully goes back to her previous life, and her physical condition worsens every single day, with a cough that seems terminal. Alfredo's father shows compassion and in her dying hours, her lover comes to her and they are joined in love.

In the movie "Pretty Woman", Richard Gear takes his somewhat unchaste beloved, Julia Roberts, to the opera, and not by chance this is the opera they watch. The heroine is in tears because of the story and Violetta's misfortune, and perhaps sees it as a prophecy of her own destiny. But do not fear, for American films must end well, and so in the end of the movie her lover takes her towards the bright future of which Violetta was deprived.

Go to the main menu
Home
Listen to a MIDI example
Example
The country in which it was written
Country
About the composer
Composer
The form of the work
Form
The period
Period

Back to last screenMusixCool© By Nadav DafniTo The Listening Guide