The audience at the Teatro Real enthusiastically welcomed the return of ‘La Traviata’ by Giuseppe Verdi this Tuesday. The opera tells the harsh story of a royal courtesan, who is used as an object of pleasure by a hypocritical society and then despised and condemned when she tries to break free from her condition.
‘La Traviata’, with a libretto by Francesco Maria Piave and musical direction by Henrik Nánási, received a standing ovation at its premiere, with applause lasting for over seven minutes. The applause was particularly deafening for tenor Xabier Anduaga, who played Alfredo Germont, and soprano Nadine Sierra, who portrayed the protagonist and received a standing ovation from the audience at the Real.
Among the dignitaries attending the premiere of Verdi’s opera were the President of the Higher Sports Council, José Manuel Rodríguez Uribes, the Vice President of the Senate, Javier Maroto, the delegate for Culture, Tourism and Sports, Marta Rivera de la Cruz, former minister and patron of the Teatro Real Alberto Ruiz Gallardón, and the CEO of Europa Press, Asís Martín de Cabiedes.
‘La Traviata’ tells the story of Violetta Valery, who begins a passionate affair with a young student, Alfredo Germont. Alfredo’s family forces their relationship to end by pressuring Violetta, who, believing she is protecting her lover’s happiness, leaves him and returns to prostitution, where she meets her tragic end.
This opera is inspired by the novel ‘La Dame aux Camélias’ by Alexandre Dumas (son), which depicts the love story between a young aristocrat and a courtesan who must confront the social prejudices of Parisian high society, unable to tolerate her past.
The premiere of ‘La Traviata’ on March 6, 1853, at the Teatro La Fenice in Venice was a failure, as recalled by the artistic director of the Teatro Real, Joan Matabosch. The audience found the boldness of the subject matter, the contemporary characters they could recognize, and the tragic ending of a young woman condemned by tuberculosis, a disease that horrified at the time, unacceptable.
The narrative begins at a party celebrating Violetta’s recovery from a serious illness. During the event, she suddenly feels unwell, and it is at this moment that Alfredo Germont confesses his love to her, a love that he has long kept secret. She tells him she has never known love, so she cannot reciprocate, but she is moved by his declaration.
Three months later, Violetta and Alfredo, deeply in love, live together in the countryside outside Paris. However, Giorgio Germont, Alfredo’s father, accuses Violetta of ruining his son and asks her to leave. Heartbroken, she agrees and writes to her beloved, informing him that she is returning to her former lover, Baron Douphol.
Hurt and angry, Alfredo goes to Paris determined to find Violetta. At a party, she lies to him, claiming she loves the baron, while he, furious, publicly humiliates her by trying to pay her for her services.
Months later, when tuberculosis has taken hold of Violetta, Alfredo returns seeking forgiveness.
As explained by the artistic director of the Teatro Real, Joan Matabosch, in ‘La Traviata’, «Violetta’s selfless love contrasts sharply with the selfish and hypocritical calculations of the defenders of morality and social status.»
‘La Traviata’ returns to the Real under the stage direction of Willy Decker, with a production by the Dutch National Opera that was a sensation at the 2005 Salzburg Festival. Verdi, following the structure of Alexandre Dumas’ novel ‘La Dame aux Camélias’, opens his opera with the theme of Violetta’s agony.
The staging highlights the two central themes of the work: time and death. The set, designed by Wolfgang Gussmann, resembles an arena, where the circularity of Violetta’s life is symbolized by a large clock. The production also follows a circular structure, with the same music opening and closing the opera.
During the presentation of the production last Friday, stage director Willy Decker pointed out that everyone, including the protagonist, knows from the beginning «that she is going to die.» The ticking of a clock is always heard in the background, a constant reminder of the inevitable fate.
As noted by Joan Matabosch, «the clock plays a vital role in the drama, both in its symbolism and its enormity. It serves as a gaming table, a roulette wheel, an altar where Violetta will be sacrificed, and even its hands are used as banderillas.»
The musical direction is in the hands of Hungarian Henrik Nánási and Francesc Prat, who will conduct the performances on July 1 and 10, leading three different casts of voices featuring sopranos Sierra and Adela Zaharia; tenors Xabier Anduaga, Iván Ayón Rivas, and Juan Diego Flórez as Alfredo; and baritones Luca Salsi, Artur Rucinski, and Gëzim Myshketa as Giorgio Germont.
Since the reopening of the Teatro Real, there have been 61 performances of ‘La Traviata’, with 18 conducted by Jesús López Cobos and Pier Luigi Pizzi (2003 and 2005), 16 by Renato Palumbo and David McVicar (2015), and 27 by Nicola Luisotti and Leo Castaldi (2020).
The premiere of this opera was scheduled to close the 2019-2020 season but was replaced by a staged version that complied with the strict health and safety measures imposed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.