La traviata

Warsaw Grand Theatre - Polish National Opera (Teatr Wielki), Moniuszko Auditorium, Warsaw, Poland

Scene 2 from the opera "La Traviata", photo 2

Scene 3 from the opera "La Traviata", photo 3

Scene 4 from the opera "La Traviata", photo 4

Scene 5 from the opera "La Traviata", photo 5

Scene 6 from the opera "La Traviata", photo 6

Scene 7 from the opera "La Traviata", photo 7

All photos (7)

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Sunday 8 May 2022

6 PM

Ticket delivery: E-Tickets

E-tickets: Print at home or at the box office of the event if so specified. You will find more information in your booking confirmation email.

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You can only select the category, and not the exact seats.
If you order 2 or 3 tickets: your seats will be next to each other.
If you order 4 or more tickets: your seats will be next to each other, or, if this is not possible, we will provide a combination of groups of seats (at least in pairs, for example 2+2 or 2+3).

Important Info

Type: Opera

City: Warsaw, Poland

Starts at: 18:00

Acts: 4

Intervals: 2

Duration: 2h 50min

Sung in: Italian

Titles in: Polish

Ticket delivery: E-Tickets

E-tickets: Print at home or at the box office of the event if so specified. You will find more information in your booking confirmation email.

Can I choose my seats?

Overview

The directorial motto of this splendid take on La traviata could be a sentence taken from the farewell note left by Curt Cobain, the leader of Nirvana: ‘It’s better to burn out than to fade away’. Because Mariusz Treliński’s production of the Verdi opera is a tale of a star consumed by her own luminosity. He turns the operatic masterpiece into a portrayal of an artistic community.

Violetta Valery – sung by Aleksandra Kurzak on the opening night – is a widely adored revue artist. Her stage costume comprises a pitch black wig, corset, blue feather boa/coat, and stockings held up by garters. She does not lead the life of a luxurious courtesan as her literary model in The Lady of the Camellias by Alexandre Dumas fils, yet she does live off her physical attractiveness and devotion of her fandom.

Designed by Boris Kudlička, the set is positioned on a 50-meter high platform and keeps moving from the left wing to the right to the rhythm of the music, revealing scenes from the heroine’s life: a cabaret venue full of dance and colourful lights, wild parties in the company of her friends headlined by Alfredo Germont, who is deeply besotted with the beautiful celebrity. His love will cause an internal transformation of Violetta and the colourful ‘movie’ about her glamorous existence will morph into a story of spiritual growth. The evolution is accompanied by disappearing scenery: while Act 1 takes place in a dance-filled Parisian club, the final scenes unfold on a bare stage, where the heroine meets her death.

In the 19th century the profession of courtesan stirred unwholesome emotions and bottled up desires, with the reactions’ intensity being proportionate to the perceived gravity of the sin and transgression of social rules. First Dumas and then Verdi both tried to divulge the hypocrisy of the bourgeoisie, who officially condemned women living off prostitution and eagerly availed of their services behind closed doors. Their masterpieces, which can easily be classed as tear-jerkers, humanised the sinner.

Let us set the record straight on one point, though. The widely believed story of a great scandal created by the Dumas play is untrue: during the work’s 1852 Parisian world premiere the whole audience shed trees of sympathy for the poor heroine whom first quit her profession and then died of tuberculosis in the arms of her beloved before their eyes.

Also, the failed opening of Verdi’s La traviata at La Fenice in Venice in 1853 was not down to the general outrage but inappropriate casting, in particular assigning the title role to Fanny Salvini-Donatelli, whom the crowd thought was not appealing enough. A year later, after minor revisions to the score, La traviata was put on at San Benedetto, another Venetian theatre. The triumph it scored that night lasts to this day as the title is one of the most popular operas staged across the globe.

A work’s greatness is measured by its contemporary relevance. What is it that attracts 21st-century audiences to La traviata, apart from the ravishing music? The social conventions have changed, the sin has lost its gravity, the old prejudices are gone. Still, La traviata is a mirror that reflects our world, where life goes on simultaneously in the material and virtual dimension, where we ‘sell’ our life in social media, and make our choices conditional on retailer-guided ‘advice’ offered by influencers. Today’s Violetta Valery could be a man or a person without a gender. The idea of breaking free from the surrounding razzmatazz and searching for meaning in life is as relevant as ever, and so are decadent attempts to escape death.

History

Premiere of this production: 06 March 1853, Teatro La Fenice, Venice

La traviata is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi set to an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave. It is based on La Dame aux camélias (1852), a play adapted from the novel by Alexandre Dumas fils. The opera was originally titled Violetta, after the main character. It was first performed on 6 March 1853 at the La Fenice opera house in Venice.

Synopsis

Set in and around Paris in about 1850.

Act I

Violetta Valéry, a Parisian courtesan, greets the guests at her salon. Among them are Flora Bervoix, the Marchese D’Obigny, Baron Douphol and Gastone, who introduces Violetta to a new admirer of hers, Alfredo Germont. The young Germont, who has been admiring her from afar, joins her in a drinking song. An orchestra strikes up in an adjacent room, inviting the guests to dance. As the guests make their way to the ballroom, Violetta, who is suffering from consumption, feels faint; she therefore sends the guests on ahead and retires to her boudoir to recover. Alfredo enters and, realising that they are alone, admits his love for her. She replies that love means nothing to her. She
is, however, touched by the young man’s sincerity and promises to meet him the following day.
When the guests have departed, she asks herself whether Alfredo is the man she could love. Despite
the strains of Alfredo’s love song drifting in from outside, she decides she prefers her freedom.

Act II

scene 1
A few months later: Alfredo and Violetta have set up house together in the country, outside Paris. Alfredo says how happy they are, but when Violetta’s maid Annina lets on that Violetta has been selling her belongings to pay for the house, he hastens into town to raise the money himself. Violetta comes in search of him and discovers an invitation from her friend Flora to a soirée that very night. Violetta has no intention of returning to her former life, but she is forced to reconsider
on encountering Alfredo’s father. He is very taken with Violetta and her civilised manners but orders her to renounce Alfredo: his son’s scandalous liaison with Violetta is threatening his daughter’s forthcoming marriage. Violetta considers his demand unreasonable, but before long Germont succeeds in persuading her. Alone and desolate, Violetta sends a reply to Flora accepting her invitation and sits down to write a farewell letter to Alfredo. His return takes her by surprise, and she can barely restrain herself as she passionately reminds him how much she loves him before
rushing out. As the maid brings him Violetta’s farewell letter, Germont returns to console his son and reminds him of life in their family home in Provence. Alfredo spots Flora’s invitation and suspects that Violetta has left him for another man. In a rage, he decides to confront her at the soirée.

scene 2
At the soirée, Flora hears from the Marchese that Violetta and Alfredo have parted. Flora asks the guests to make way for a visiting troupe of performing gypsies. They are followed by matadors and a song about Piquillo and his sweetheart. Alfredo rushes in and delivers some bitter comments about love and gambling. Violetta appears on the arm of Baron Douphol, who challenges Alfredo to a game of cards and loses a small fortune to him. As the guests go in to supper, Violetta asks to have a word with Alfredo in private. She is afraid the Baron will be enraged by his loss and urges Alfredo to leave. Alfredo misunderstands her and orders her to admit she loves the Baron. Disappointed by Alfredo’s reaction, Violetta lies and confesses that yes, she does. Alfredo calls the other guests to gather round in order to denounce his former beloved in public and throws the money he has won at her feet. Germont, arriving at that very moment, expresses his disapproval of his son’s behaviour. The guests likewise rebuke Alfredo and Douphol challenges him to a duel.

Act III

Violetta’s bedroom, six months later. Dr Grenvil tells Annina that her mistress has not long to live –
the consumption has taken its toll. Alone, Violetta rereads a letter from Germont saying that the Baron was only slightly wounded in his duel with Alfredo, that Alfredo has heard the truth and is
coming to beg her pardon. But Violetta realises it is too late. It is carnival time in Paris and, the sounds of the revellers having passed, Annina rushes in to announce Alfredo. The lovers ecstatically plan to leave Paris. Germont enters with the doctor just as Violetta rises from her bed with the last of her strength. Feeling a sudden rush of life, she sways and falls dead at her lover’s feet.

Venue Info

Warsaw Grand Theatre - Polish National Opera (Teatr Wielki) - Warsaw
plac Teatralny 1

The Grand Theatre in Warsaw is a theatre and opera complex situated on the historic Theatre Square in central Warsaw. The Warsaw Grand Theatre is home to the Polish National Ballet and is one of the largest theatrical venues in the world.

The Theatre was built on Theatre Square between 1825 and 1833, replacing the former building of Marywil, from Polish classicist designs by the Italian architect Antonio Corazzi of Livorno, to provide a new performance venue for existing opera, ballet and drama companies active in Warsaw. The building was remodeled several times and, in the period of Poland's political eclipse from 1795 to 1918, it performed an important cultural and political role in producing many works by Polish composers and choreographers.

It was in the new theatre that Stanisław Moniuszko's two best-known operas received their premieres: the complete version of Halka (1858), and The Haunted Manor (1865). After Frédéric Chopin, Moniuszko was the greatest figure in 19th-century Polish music, for in addition to producing his own works, he was director of the Warsaw Opera from 1858 until his death in 1872.

While director of the Grand Theatre, Moniuszko composed The Countess, Verbum Nobile, The Haunted Manor and Paria, and many songs that make up 12 Polish Songbooks.

Also, under Moniuszko's direction, the wooden Summer Theatre was built close by in the Saxon Garden. Summer performances were given annually, from the repertories of the Grand and Variety (Rozmaitości) theatres. Józef Szczublewski writes that during this time, even though the country had been partitioned out of political existence by its neighbors, the theatre flourished: "the ballet roused the admiration of foreign visitors; there was no equal troupe of comedians to be found between Warsaw and Paris, and Modrzejewska was an inspiration to drama."

The theatre presented operas by Władysław Żeleński, Ignacy Jan Paderewski, Karol Szymanowski and other Polish composers, as well as ballet productions designed by such choreographers as Roman Turczynowicz, Piotr Zajlich and Feliks Parnell. At the same time, the repertoire included major world opera and ballet classics, performed by the most prominent Polish and foreign singers and dancers. It was also here that the Italian choreographer Virgilius Calori produced Pan Twardowski (1874), which (in the musical arrangement first of Adolf Sonnenfeld and then of Ludomir Różycki) has for years been part of the ballet company's repertoire.

During the 1939 battle of Warsaw, the Grand Theatre was bombed and almost completely destroyed, with only the classical façade surviving. During the Warsaw Uprising of 1944 the Germans shot civilians in the burnt-out ruins. The plaque to the right of the main entrance commemorates the suffering and heroism of the victims of fascism.