E. Giuseppe Verdi (1813–1901) Finally to the first act of La traviata (1854), a highly unusual work in Verdi’s output in that it treats a contemporary subject taken from a play currently playing on French stages. Violetta Valéry is a Paris Vagaries of Operatic Love courtesan. Knowing that she is dying of tuberculosis, she is set on going out in a froth of champagne. But then she meets an admirer, Alfredo Germont, who tries to persuade her to give up this life and move with him to the peace of the country. As we discover in Act Two, she will do so, but not without ending Act One in an aria that is the most remarkable internal examination of the feelings of a woman 11 in love yet seen on the opera stage. The innovative production by Willy Decker was first seen in Salzburg 12 in 2005 and later brought to the Met. Alas, it was replaced by a much less inventive one last season. — La traviata, Act I, second half 18 Anna Netrebko, Rolando Villazón. Salzburg, 2005 All materials for the class, including PowerPoint images and video links to these or similar performances, will be posted on the instructor’s website shortly after the end of each class: http://www.brunyate.com/vagariesColumbia/ Click on the image for that particular class to access them. Roger Brunyate may be contacted at
[email protected] 1. A Brief History of Love, Monteverdi to Verdi Class One: A Brief History of Love Though there is a scene in which Cleopatra makes Julius Caesar fall in love with her through performing for him in a masque; it begins in enchantment, but the characters end genuinely in love.