La Traviata

Act I

In the salon in the house of Violetta Valéry, a fascinating and much wooed courtesan of the fashionable Parisian society, a sumptuous reception is in progress. Among the last guests to arrive, after gambling at cards in the house of Flora Bervoix, Viscount Gaston de Letorières introduces Violetta to Alfredo Germont, who is a fervent admirer of the young girl: he is so deeply in love –confides Gaston– that, when she was recently ill, he came every day to secretly enquire after her health. Violetta, touched by this unusual devotion, amiably dispels the shyness of her young admirer. Encouraged by his friends, Alfredo improvises a toast to beauty and the joy of life. After supper, as the guests move off towards the ballroom, Violetta has a sudden fit of coughing. Alfredo, who is alone with her, begs her fondly to take more care of her health, assuring her that he would know how to devotedly look after her. Then, he tenderly declares his love to her. Violetta is surprised and feigns indifference, replying that he will receive only friendship from her. Inwardly, however, she is perturbed by this confession. Plucking a flower from her bosom, she offers it to Alfredo for him to return it when it has withered. Exultantly, he takes it to mean an invitation to return the following day. Dawn has risen and the guests leave the house after the dancing. In solitude, Violetta ponders over Alfredo’s words of love. For the first time, someone has expressed sincere affection for her. Accustomed to spend her life among fleeting joys and worldly pleasures, should she take him seriously and change her way of life? No, she resolves not to pursue this foolish illusion, though deep in her heart she feels that their love must be true.

Act II

The first scene is laid in a country house near Paris, where Violetta and Alfredo are spending an idyllic life together, far from the social whirl of the capital. Alfredo expresses the fullness of his joy at this delightful situation, which has been going on for three months now. But the spell is unexpectedly broken by Annina, the maid, who tells him that she has been to Paris upon Violetta’s orders, to sell jewels, horses and properties to pay for the expenses of their stay in the country. Alfredo’s pride is hurt and he decides to leave at once in order to settle these affairs personally. Violetta enters. She is reading a letter from Flora, who has discovered the lovers’ retreat and invites her friend to a reception that same evening. Let her wait in vain, smiles Violetta. In the meantime a visit is announced. Giorgio Germont, Alfredo’s father, introduces himself to Violetta with a contemptuous air, convinced that the woman is being maintained by his son. Violetta proudly shows Germont the deed of sale of her estate. Germont is favourably impressed by this gesture. However, he asks her, on the strength of her affection, to renounce Alfredo in order not to ruin the happiness of another member of his family, his daughter, whose marriage with a young man “from a good family” may fall through unless she brings the scandalous relationship she has with her brother to an end. Violetta claims the rights of her love, informs Germont of her serious health condition, and desperately resists his pressing requests. But in the end she yields. In resignation she agrees to sacrifice her own happiness for the sake of Alfredo and his loved ones.

She promises Germont, who is deeply moved, to face her immense sorrow alone and never to reveal to Alfredo why she has abandoned him so rashly. She is on the point of writing a farewell letter to Alfredo when he appears and asks Violetta the reason for her strange uneasiness. She answers with a heartrending cry of love before hastening away. Later, she sends him a note saying that she has decided to return to her former social life and old friends.  Alfredo is deeply shaken. Germont arrives, but his fond words of consolation are to no avail, even though he reminds his son of the peaceful times spent in their native Provence, where he invites him to savour the warmth of his family’s affection once again.

The second scene moves the action to a hall in the house of Flora Bervoix. A masked ball is in full swing. Violetta is in attendance on the arm of Baron Douphol, her former protector. Not expecting to find Alfredo there, she is upset on seeing him, but he pretends to take no notice. He makes for the gaming tables, where he wins with shameless luck, while provoking Douphol’s resentment with vague allusions. The dinner announcement prevents a quarrel, and guests move into the dining-room. Alfredo re-enters immediately, having received an invitation from Violetta to talk with her. She implores him to leave and not to incur the Baron’s wrath. Also, she confesses that, if he would but realise, she fears most of all for her former partner’s life. But Alfredo replies that he will leave only if she follows him. Violetta is compelled to reveal that she has sworn never to see him again. Since Alfredo insists on knowing who has had the right to impose this oath upon her, she allows him to understand that it was the Baron. Beside himself with jealousy and despair, Alfredo summons the guests. After confessing his shame at having allowed a woman to squander her fortune for him, he flings at Violetta’s feet a bag full of money, proclaiming that this is his way of returning to her the money that she once paid. Violetta faints, while Alfredo’s gesture is received with general indignation. Germont, who has also arrived in the meantime, reproaches his already humiliated and repentant son, and drags him away, followed by Douphol, who demands satisfaction for the insult to his partner.

Act III

Violetta, whose illness is by now beyond hope, is being looked after by the faithful Annina. It is a grey winter’s morning. Doctor Grenvil arrives and tries to instil hope and courage into his patient, but confesses to Annina that the end is near. Violetta, once again, re-reads the affectionate letter she has received from Germont, in which he thanks her for having kept her promise. He also informs her that the Baron was wounded in the duel and that he has at last revealed the truth to Alfredo, who is now on his way to visit her to beg forgiveness. An echo of carnival music and revelry rises from the street, while Violetta gazes mournfully her pale image in the mirror and her heart breaks when she remembers the happy months that she spent with her loved one. Annina enters and tries to prepare her for a great emotion, followed by Alfredo, who throws himself into Violetta’s arms. Together they dream once again of a radiant future. Blissfully happy, Violetta would like to get dressed and go out into the city to enjoy, but her strength fails her and she realises that she has not much longer to live. As Germont, who has joined his son, now clasps her to his heart like a daughter, she gives Alfredo a portrait of their happy times, begging him to keep it in memory of her, who has loved him so deeply, and to offer it one day to the young lady who will be his future wife. Annina and Doctor Grenvil are also on the stage. Suddenly, Violetta feels invigorated by a mysterious force. After rising, driven by one last longing for life, she falls back dead in Alfredo’s arms.

Luis Gago

He is an editor and music critic for El País and co-director of the Chamber Music Festival of the Beethoven-Haus in Bonn. He usually prepares the subtitles in Spanish for the Royal Opera House, the English National Opera and the Digital Concert Hall of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra.