LA TRAVIATA Student Guide 2010 | Opera Company of Philadelphia

Opera Company of Philadelphia and The School District of Philadelphia Present

Giuseppe Verdi’s

La traviata Final Dress Rehearsal Wednesday, May 7, 2010 at 2:00 p.m. at the Academy of Music

Opera

A Family Guide to

Pennsylvania’s standards in education call for students to show what they know and are able to do and children need to share what they have discovered or learned. Thus, the title of our program is Sounds of Learning™. It reflects our belief that children must be actively engaged in sharing ideas.

The Sounds of Learning™ workbook and teacher guide will integrate with local core literacy curriculum in many ways. Just as opera is a uniquely integrated art, combining orchestra, voice, literature, drama, and dance, Sounds of Learning™ is an interdisciplinary and student-centered program. The goal of the Active Learning sections is to have your children engaged in the process of self-teaching. They will be able to show how they have gained insights into their learning by drawing, writing, and discussing the issues most relevant to them. In this way, students demonstrate what they can do with what they know.

We believe the family is the most important foundation to learning. Let your kitchen table become a classroom where your children can build their knowledge of opera and the humanities. As you join in the teaching and learning process with your children, watch their eyes sparkle. Opera is a communal celebration, so too should be your children’s education.

In reading the libretto, we suggest that you and your family members take turns reading particular roles. Dr. Ellen Winner of Harvard’s Project Zero found that: “drama helps to build verbal skills that transfer to new materials;” helps students in “reading readiness and achievement;” and “oral and written language development.” (Journal of Aesthetic Education, v34, #3/4, Fall/Winter, 2000.)

In preparing for the opera, we suggest you purchase one of EMI’s excellent audio or video recordings of this opera. We are grateful to EMI for offering us their libretti for use in our program. Together, we hope to build future audiences for, and performers of, the arts.

Goals and Objectives of Sounds of Learning™ • Improve literacy rates by using the opera’s libretto to teach courses across the curriculum • Understand the plot, characters, and their motivations • Learn something about the composer, and others involved in writing the opera • Know something of the historic and social context of the story • Know some key musical elements, recognize certain melodies, differentiate between voices • Understand the role music plays by expressing emotions and heightening the dramatic experience • Understand the various elements of producing opera and the functions of those involved; e.g. conductor, director, set designer, technical crew, etc.

• Develop the ability to make judgments about the opera, production, and performance.

• Relate incidents in the opera to those of the present day

Best Practices in Arts Education is sponsored

by Pennsylvania Alliance for Arts Education, Pennsylvania Council on the Arts and the Pennsylvania Department of Education.

Contents Table of

Opera 101: Getting Ready for the Opera 2 4 5 6 7

A Brief History of Western Opera Philadelphia’s Academy of Music Opera Etiquette 101 There’s a Place for You at Settlement Music School Opera - Online!

Relating Opera to History: The Culture Connection 8 9 10 12 13 14

Giuseppe Verdi: Hero of Italy Meet the Writers What in the World? A Timeline of Important Events A Woman Named Rose An Ancient Killer Returns Courtesans and The Jazz Age

Libretto and Production Information 16 15 18 36 37 38

Glossary

La traviata: Troubled Beginning La traviata: Plot Synopsis La traviata: Libretto Philadelphia Premiere of La traviata Write Your Own Review Conflicts and Loves in La traviata

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Check out our website for additional content! Here you’ll find more information on the opera, its themes, lessons, and links to even more fascinating material.

See page 9 for more details.

A Brief History of

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Western Opera

Theatrical performances that use music, song and dance to tell a story can be found in many cultures. Opera is just one example of music drama.

In its 400-year history each opera has been shaped by the times in which it was created and tells us much about those who participated in the art form as writers, composers, performers, and audience members.

The first works to be called operas were created in Italy at the end of the sixteenth century.

They were inspired by a group of intellectuals known as the Camerata who, like many thinkers of their time in the late Renaissance, admired the culture of the ancient Greeks. They proposed the invention of a new type of musical theater that would imitate Greek drama’s use of music.

The result was a series of operas based on Greek myths, starting with Dafne by Jacopo Peri in 1598. The most famous work of this early period is Claudio Monteverdi’s Orfeo (1607), based on the myth of Orpheus. These early operas had all the basic elements that we associate with opera today, including songs, instrumental accompaniments, dance, costumes, and scenery.

These early operas were performed in the courts of Italian noblemen, but soon opera became Claudio Monteverdi popular with the general public. 1567-1643 Europe at the time had a growing middle class with a taste for spectacular entertainment.

As opera’s popularity grew, so did the complexity of operas and the level of spectacle. Many opera houses had elaborate machinery that could be used to create special effects such as flying actors and crumbling buildings. There was much debate about whether an excess of visual elements in opera detracted from the quality of the music and drama.

Some people even worried that too much comedy in opera could lead to immorality among the public!

During the period from about 1600 to 1750, the Baroque period in music, Italian opera spread across Europe. In fact the Italian style of opera was so popular that even though other countries and regions often had their own traditions of musical drama, the Italian form was usually preferred.

George Frederick Handel was a German-born composer who lived and worked in England, but his operas such as Julius Caesar (1724) were in the Italian language and used an Italian style of music.

The only nation to develop a national tradition to

A tense scene from Act II of Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro. (l-r: bass Richard Bernstein, baritone Simone Alberghini and sopranos Christine Brandes and Mary Dunleavy.)

Bass Kevin Glavin gets a close shave from baritone Roberto DeCandia in Rossini’s The Barber of Seville.

rival the Italian was France, where operas often included ballets inserted into the story. JeanBaptiste Lully and Jean-Philippe Rameau are the most famous French Baroque opera composers.

By the middle of the seventeenth century Europe was changing. The growing middle class was more influential than ever, and people were starting to talk about new forms of government and organization in society. Soon the American and French Revolutions (1776 and 1789) would seek to establish the first modern democracies.

Music was changing, too. Composers abandoned the Baroque era’s complicated musical style and began to write simpler music with more expressive melodies. Opera composers could write melodies that allowed characters to express their thoughts and feelings more believably. One of the first operas to use this new style was Cristoph Willibald Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice (1762).

With the new democratic sentiments came interest in operas about common people in familiar settings, rather than stories from ancient mythology.

A good example is Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro (1786), in which a servant outsmarts a count. Several of Mozart’s operas remain among the most popular today. They include Figaro, Don Giovanni (1788), Così fan tutte (1790), and The Magic Flute (1791).

In the nineteenth century operas continued to grow more diverse in their subject matter, forms, and national styles. The Italian tradition continued in the bel canto movement. Operas written in this style, which means “beautiful singing”, included arias with intricate ornamentation, or combinations of fast notes, in the melodies. The most famous bel canto composers are Vincenzo Bellini, Gaetano Donizetti and Gioacchino Rossini, whose The Barber of Seville (1816) is one of the most beloved comic operas.

Later in the century the Romantic Movement led many composers to take an interest their national identities. As a result, operas in languages other than Italian became more common, and new works often reflected pride in a country’s people, history and folklore. Among the operas that show the growth of national traditions are Carl Maria von Weber’s Der Freischütz (Germany, 1821), Mikhail Glinka’s Ruslan and Lyudmilla (Russia, 1842) and Georges Bizet’s Carmen (France, 1875). In Italy Giuseppe Verdi composed in a bold, direct style, and his operas, such as Nabucco and Macbeth, often included elements of nationalism. In Germany Richard Wagner took the Romantic style to the extreme in an ambitious series of operas known collectively as The Ring of the Nibelung (1876) based on Norse mythology.

In the twentieth century opera became even more diversified and experimental, to the point that it sometimes became difficult to distinguish it from other forms of musical theater. Some composers such as Giacomo Puccini (La bohème, 1896), Claude Debussy (Pelléas et Mélisande, 1902), Richard Strauss (Salome, 1905), and Benjamin Britten (Peter Grimes, 1945) continued to write operas that were similar in many ways to those of the nineteenth century. Others, horrified by the destructive effects of World War I (1914-1919) and other aspects of modern life, created works with radically experimental and dissonant music. These operas often explored topics that were either disturbing (Wozzeck by Alban Berg, 1925) or absurdist (The Rake’s Progress by Igor Stravinsky, 1951). American opera also came into its own in this century, beginning with George Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess (1935) which incorporated jazz and blues styles of music. In the latter part of the century a repetitive and hypnotic style known as minimalism was exemplified in Phillip Glass’s Einstein on the Beach (1976), a piece that would hardly be recognized as an opera by earlier standards. The late twentieth century even saw a return to some of the traits of Romantic opera in works such as John Corigliano’s The Ghosts of Versailles (1991).

Today, opera is a living art form in which both new works and those by composers of the past continue to be performed. It remains to be seen what the future of opera will be, but if history is any indication, it will be shaped by the creativity of librettists, composers and other artists responding the changing times in which they live.

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Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart 1756-1791

Philadelphia’s

Academy of Music

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You will attend the opera at Philadelphia’s Academy of Music, the country’s oldest grand opera house still used for its original purpose - performing opera! It is a very grand opera house with a huge chandelier and four levels. Its design was based on the famous La Scala opera house in Milan, Italy.

Finding the money to build an opera house in Philadelphia was difficult, but enough money was raised by 1854. On October 13th a plot of land was bought on the corner of Broad and Locust Streets to build the opera house.

Fifteen architects entered a competition to see who would design the Academy in the fall of 1854.

On February 12, 1855 Gustav Rungé and Napoleon le Brun won the contest, which included a $400 prize. Within four months the ground-breaking took place. The project was so important that President Franklin Pierce, along with the governor and mayor, laid the cornerstone on July 26, 1855.

The Academy opened on January 26, 1857 with a Grand Ball and Promenade Concert. The first opera presented in the brand new opera house was Giuseppe Verdi’s Il trovatore on February 25, 1857. Charles Gounod’s opera Faust had its American premiere here on November 18, 1863. On February 14, 1907, Madama Butterfly premiered to “emphatic success” with its composer, Giacomo Puccini, in attendance.

The Academy of Music’s restored chandelier.

Photo by Michael Bolton

Numerous presidents have visited the Academy, including Ulysses S. Grant, Theodore Roosevelt, and Richard Nixon. Prince Charles of Wales visited the Academy in 2007. Thousands of world-famous performers have appeared on its stage, such as Peter Tchaikovsky, Sergei Rachmaninoff, George Gershwin, Igor Stravinsky, Arturo Toscanini, Marian Anderson, Maria Callas, and Luciano Pavarotti.

The Academy was made a Registered National Historic Landmark in 1963. Since then, a few changes have been made to the structure. The “Twenty-First Century Project”, begun in 1996, replaced the stage floor, rigging system, and restored the historic ceiling. During 2008 the famous chandelier was rebuilt to how it looked in 1857. All of these renovations have helped the Academy remain as grand as ever. We hope you find it grand as well!

Academy Facts ›

The auditorium seats 2,897; 14 columns support the Academy’s tiers; and the auditorium is encased within a three foot thick solid brick wall.

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The Academy Chandelier is 25 feet high, 50 feet in circumference, almost 17 feet in diameter, and 3,500 pounds in weight. It has 23,000 crystals on it, which, if laid out, could reach from Broad Street to Rittenhouse Square and back.

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The red and gold pattern on the Academy’s stage curtain simulates that of a pineapple, a Victorian-era symbol for “welcome.”

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The first-ever indoor football game was held on the Academy’s Parquet level on March 7, 1889 between University of Pennsylvania and Riverton Club of Princeton. At halftime, tug-of-war matches were held as entertainment.

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1,600 people attended the first ever motion picture screening on February 5, 1870. The audience saw a couple dancing, a gymnastics routine and more during the silent film.

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Air conditioning was installed in the theatre 1959.

There was no elevator for the general public in the Academy until 1990!

For more information on the Academy of Music, go to the library and take out Within These Walls, by John Francis Marion or go online to www.academyofmusic.org.

Opera Etiquette 101 There’s nothing quite as exciting as attending the opera in a beautiful theater like the Academy of Music. You will attending the opera’s final dress rehearsal, the last chance for the artists to rehearse before opening night. The opera will be run through without a pause, just like a performance.

In the center of the floor level of the Academy, the Parquet Level, you’ll notice computer monitors on a large table. The production team sits here to take notes and talk via headset with the many people backstage who make operatic magic happen.

Unlike actors on television or in the movies, performers onstage are very aware of the audience.

They want to share their love of performing with you.

Everything you do in the audience affects what happens on stage. Because this is a working rehearsal, please refrain from talking. All of the artists need to concentrate on fine-tuning the production. You can show them how much you appreciate their work and the opportunity to come to the rehearsal by being as quiet as possible. So, please refrain from talking out of respect for the cast, musicians, the entire production team, and everyone in the theater. Give the artists and the production your full attention!

Here’s a list of do’s and don’ts so that everyone in the theater can enjoy the opera:

Please Do...

• Applaud after the arias; you can shout “Bravo!” for the men and “Brava!” for the women.

• Enter and exit the theater in an orderly fashion.

• Please use the bathrooms before the rehearsal begins or at intermission.

• Be careful in the auditorium! Because the theatre is 150 years old, it’s not necessarily designed for modern conveniences.

• Turn off your cell phones and all electronic devices.

• Enjoy the rehearsal. You’ve worked too hard preparing for the rehearsal not to!

ACTIVE LEARNING The picture on this page shows several patrons and famous opera characters on their way to attend an opera in the Academy of Music.

Now picture yourself in their shoes. On a separate piece of paper, write a few words on what you think the trip to the opera will be like. You may want to mention coming into Philadelphia, visiting the Academy of Music, attending the opera. What will you wear? How will you and your classmates act? At what time will you meet your classmates? How may classmates will attend? Will you have a special dinner before the opera? If so, where? Will the opera be exciting and entertaining? Share your thoughts here and compare your stories with your classmates.

Don’t Forget...

• Food, gum and beverages are not allowed inside the Academy of Music.

• Photographs or video footage may not be taken during the performance.

• No talking or whispering during the rehearsal.

• No shoving, jumping, running, or spitting in the Academy of Music.

• Please obey the Academy of Music ushers and staff.

• Keep all objects to yourself. If you throw something, you might hurt someone and cause a disruption in rehearsal.

It is grounds for removal from the auditorium.

• MAKE YOUR SCHOOL PROUD!

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There’s a Place for You at

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Settlement Music School

Kevin Eubanks, Hollywood film composer Alex North, Star Wars director Irv Kershner, numerous members of The Philadelphia Orchestra (as well as musicians in orchestras around the country). Even scientist Albert Einstein was a Settlement Music School student! In fact, studies show that science and music use similar principles—so music lessons may help your math skills, too.

Famous Philadelphia-born actor Kevin Bacon took lessons at Settlement Music School. You can, too!

Settlement Music School is a community arts school that offers programs and activities in music, voice, dance and the related arts to help those interested achieve their greatest potential.

Settlement is dedicated to a belief that people of all ages, abilities, backgrounds, and financial circumstances deserve and will benefit from the high quality programs that Settlement offers.

Founded in 1908, the School began when two young volunteer teachers offered piano lessons for a nickel. The response was so huge they raised the price to a dime to hire more teachers. A full program of instruction soon took shape, encompassing all instruments and voice and taught by professionals, including members of the Philadelphia Orchestra.

Today, Settlement’s six branches reach all over Philadelphia and serve more than 9,000 pupils on site and another 6,000 through outreach programs. Students from every zip code in Philadelphia and the eight surrounding counties in Pennsylvania and New Jersey attend Settlement.

The school has four Philadelphia branches (West Philadelphia, Germantown, KardonNortheast, and the original South Philadelphia school - the Mary Louise Curtis branch in Queen Village); one in Jenkintown, Montgomery County; and the newest location in Camden, NJ. An impressive list of former Settlement students has gone on to exciting careers, including actor Kevin Bacon, jazz bassist Stanley Clarke, pianist Joey DeFrancesco, Tonight Show guitarist

Settlement is a vital force in the communities it serves. It brings together students from every walk of life, providing many with opportunities otherwise unavailable to them through scholarship and financial aid. Settlement Music School helps them not only to develop musical and artistic talents, but also to build self confidence and readiness for academic and other achievements.

Students who come here begin life-long friendships with other students who perform with them in ensemble and orchestra programs. One student, a current member of the Philadelphia Orchestra, still plays “gigs” on the side with a friend he met when he was 14 years old at Settlement.

Students’ work at Settlement puts them in touch with the best of themselves, the best of their neighbors, and the best that the world has to offer in creative expression. And, anybody, no matter what your skill or circumstance, is accepted. Call 215320-2600 or visit Settlement’s website at www.smsmusic.org for more information.

Settlement Music School Branches Mary Louise Curtis (215) 320-2600 416 Queen Street, Philadelphia, PA 19147 Germantown (215) 320-2610 6128 Germantown Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19144 Kardon-Northeast (215) 320-2620 3745 Clarendon Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19114 Jenkintown Music School (215) 320-2630 515 Meetinghouse Road, Jenkintown, PA 19046 West Philadelphia (215) 320-2640 4910 Wynnefield Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19131 Camden School of Musical Arts (856) 541-6375 531-35 Market Street, Camden, NJ 08102 Visit the Settlement Music School website at www.smsmusic.org.

OPERA – Online!

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Many of you may be studying music in your schools or privately. Where do you go if you want to learn more about La traviata, opera singers, opera-related topics and experience opera more frequently? Visit OCP’s website at: operaphila.org/community/sol-prod4.shtml.

Here you can find more information about La traviata and all the operas presented by the Opera Company at absolutely no cost!

Opera Right in Your Email Inbox!

Another great way to learn more is to sign up for the free weekly Sounds of Learning™ email list. Email your name, school and age to education@operaphila.org and each week we’ll send you an opera video “clip of the week” with famous opera singers singing great arias and ensembles all throughout the summer. Some will be funny, some will be thrilling, some will be dramatic, all if it will be exciting! Also included in the email will be the website of the week. We’ll feature links to singers’ websites, music links, other great music and opera websites. You can build a whole library of video clips to go back to again and again!

Share the clips and links with your family and friends.

Don’t forget to check out our Sounds of Learning™ blog at http://operaphillysol.blogspot.com.

The blog will allow you to discuss the opera with students throughout the tri-state area!

Log onto the blog and share your thoughts and views about the opera, the music, the set, the singers, the Academy of Music, coming to center city Philadelphia, the email list clip of the week and more! Other students participating in Sounds of Learning™ from Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware want to hear what you have to say! Post your comments by going to: http://operaphillysol.blogspot.com.

See rehearsal photos on our website at http://www.operaphila.org/production/behind-scenes. Log on and see our Behind the Scenes area to see how a production develops from the first day of rehearsal to opening night!

Also, you can download extra copies of the Sounds of Learning™ guide and past guides from this page as well. All of this content is provided for free!

If you’re online, check out our myspace and facebook pages, too. Just search for Opera Company of Philadelphia!

Giuseppe Verdi:

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Hero of Italy Giuseppe Verdi was born into the dangerous period of the Napoleonic Wars at Le Roncole near Busseto on October 10, 1813. His parents were Carlo Verdi and Luigia Uttini Verdi.

Verdi’s love of music was evident from his earliest years. One of his greatest joys was listening to the old organ in the church near his home.

He begged his father for lessons and finally got his way in 1821 when his father bought him an old spinet. Verdi’s father arranged for his son to study with the church organist. Four years later, at the age of twelve, young Verdi became the church organist when his teacher took another post. Verdi soon began to study in the nearby town of Busseto with the help of Antonio Barezzi, his father’s friend. Barezzi, a successful shopkeeper and amateur musician, agreed to put the young Verdi up in his home.

In Busseto Verdi met the director of the music school who had him copy the orchestral parts from Haydn and Rossini scores.

Verdi was a very bright and quick learner. The school’s director allowed him to take the podium of the local orchestra. Barezzi was so impressed with Verdi’s gifts that he helped arrange for Verdi to receive a scholarship to study in Milan. However, Verdi was now over eighteen, and the judges did not care for his simple country dress. As a result they refused to accept him into the school. The director of the La Scala opera house told him not to give up and encouraged him to study under Maestro Vincenzo Lavigna. Under his new teacher’s tutelage, Verdi studied the works of Mozart and Beethoven.

At 21, Verdi was asked to take over a rehearsal of Haydn’s Creation when the conductor became ill. Verdi was asked to continue. He sat at the piano and played with one hand while conducting with the other. The musicians were so impressed with his talent that he was given the responsibility to conduct the performances before Milan’s society. This success launched his career.

On May 4, 1836, Verdi married his benefactor’s daughter, Margherita Barezzi. Three years later, his first opera, Oberto, premiered at La Scala and was a Giuseppe Verdi moderate success.

The next few years, however, were times of deep sadness. Verdi’s two children died before either reached the age of three, and then Margherita died in June 1840, a few months after the second child.

Verdi returned to Milan and composed the comic opera for which he had signed a contract prior to his wife’s death. This opera was a complete failure due partly to the extreme grief with which Verdi struggled while composing it.

Deeply depressed and finding it hard to concentrate on his work, Verdi was almost impoverished. He could only afford to eat one meal a day. One day, while leaving a tavern, he bumped into Bartolomeo Merelli, the opera house director who had supported Verdi’s earlier work. He asked Verdi to compose another opera.

From this accidental meeting, the great opera Nabucco was born. The night the opera was premiered, March 9, 1842 in La Scala, the audience cheered Verdi, who still could not smile.

Over the years, Verdi composed masterpiece after masterpiece. Some of his operas had a political nature and the censors were always checking his work. Verdi believed in republican ideals and thought of George Washington as his personal hero. His music often contained political overtones. The song, “Va Pensiero” (Go Thought) from Nabucco became the revolutionary hymn of Italy. It still inspires us today.

Verdi always remembered and loved his simple country heritage. He never forgot those less fortunate than himself. He supported other struggling artists financially, and upon his death willed all the royalties of his operas to support a home in Milan for aged opera singers. This nursing home exists to this day.

Verdi was more than an artist, he embodied the heart and soul of Italy.

Alexandre Dumas fils and Francesco Maria Piave

Meet the Writers There were two famous French writers named Alexandre Dumas.

They were father and son.

The father, called Dumas père, was the author of The Count of Monte Cristo, The Three Musketeers, The Man in the Iron Mask, and Alexandre Dumas fils other classic swashbuckling adventures. The son, Dumas fils, was also a writer, but his literary reputation rests mainly on his novel and play, La Dame aux Camélias (The Lady of the Camellias), which became Giuseppe Verdi’s opera La traviata.

Dumas the younger (1824-1895) was tall, handsome, and always well-dressed. He was a natural in society, with a long list of female admirers, attachments, and conquests, but he was not a wealthy man. He lived off the generosity of his father, and borrowed money from friends.

While he didn’t write nearly as much as his father, his novels and plays focused his society’s evils. Yet only La Dame aux Camélias achieved the same lasting fame as his father’s writings.

He first met the French courtesan Rose Alphonsine Plessis (she called herself Marie Duplessis) in September 1844, and began a passionate affair with her. He lavished her with gifts he couldn’t afford. He was concerned for her frail health, but was unable to persuade her to change her lifestyle. During their brief romance, she would send him a daily wish list, which always included dinner, the theater, and (according to the novel) a bouquet of camellias.

Her extravagant tastes taxed the young Dumas’ patience nd pocketbook; the two separated in August 1845.

Dumas fils would ask mutual friends about Marie, and even wrote to her, but she never answered his many letters. They never saw each other again. When Marie died in 1847, Dumas father and son were travelling together through Spain and North Africa. Upon returning to Paris, Dumas fils learned of Marie’s death. At an auction of Marie’s personal property, he purchased her gold chain as a momento.

Marie’s tomb in the Montmartre cemetery is

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adorned with a sculptured bouquet of camellias resting in a glass. Dumas’ own tomb is only a few hundred yards away.

Francesco Maria Piave (1810-1876), the librettist of La traviata, was the son of a glass maker. He studied for the priesthood before obtaining employment as a proof reader.

When his father’s business failed, he went to Rome where he joined a group of writers. In 1842, he wrote his first libretto, but it was not performed. He also provided the third act of another opera when the original librettist was unable (due to illness) to complete the task. He was recommended to Giuseppe Verdi by a mutual friend, and thus began a long and successful collaboration in 1844 with Ernani. They worked together on a total of ten operas. Their final opera, La Forza del Destino (The Force of Destiny), was commissioned for, and premiered in, St. Petersburg, Russia in 1862.

Piave served as a stage director and resident poet at Teatro La Fenice in Venice. In 1859, he moved to Milan, where he served in similar positions at La Scala opera house. He had a stroke in 1867 which reduced his ability to work. Verdi and his wife came to Piave’s aid many times in his last years.

Piave’s creative relationship with Verdi was often difficult. Verdi was initially unsure of Piave’s talent, and was very hard on him, often having his work revised by others. Yet Piave worked with dog-like devotion, and the two remained good friends. He was often Verdi’s unofficial collaborator and advisor on librettos received from other poets.

Piave wrote for other composers, too, but most of his non-Verdi librettos are not as good as those he wrote for Verdi and lack the dramatic tension and crisp verses which he created for Verdi. He would take Verdi’s prose scenarios and transform the situations into verse. Verdi insisted on brevity; Piave obeyed.

He had the right poetic and dramatic instincts to match Verdi’s musical needs.

La traviata librettist Francesco Maria Piave

What in the World?

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Personal and Historic Events during Verdi’s Life Below is a list of important historical events both in Verdi’s life and throughout the world. The items in boldface type are things that happened to Verdi and items with an asterisk (*) have local significance. All other items are historic or cultural events. Discuss what it might have been like to be alive during the time period. How would your life be different or the same? How did the inventions of the time affect daily life?

1813

Giuseppe Verdi was born on October 10 in Le Roncole, a small village near Busseto, Italy, first son of Carlo and Luigia.

1816 * The first savings bank in the United States opened in Philadelphia.

Former slave and renowned abolitionist Frederick Douglass (d.1895) was born.

1817 Verdi’s father bought him a broken-down spinet, initiating his first musical studies.

1821 At 12 years old, Verdi became the village organist at Le Roncole.

1825 At a Barber of Seville performance in Busseto, Rossini’s overture was replaced by a symphony by Verdi.

1828 The cornerstone for first United States mint was laid at Chestnut and Juniper Streets in Philadelphia.

1829 * 1830 “Mary Had a Little Lamb” was first published by Sarah Josepha Hale in the anthology "Poems for Our Children."

Verdi traveled to Milan to attend Conservatory but was not accepted.

1832 Verdi began to study independently with Maestro Vincenzo Lavigna.

Verdi married Margherita Barezzi, the daughter of his benefactor.

1836 Verdi met famous singer Giuseppina Strepponi in Milan, Italy.

1839 Successful opening of Verdi’s first opera, Oberto, at La Scala in November.

1839 First recorded use of "OK" [oll korrect] in Boston's Morning Post.

1839 Verdi's wife Margherita died shortly after the death of his two small children.

1840 March 9, triumph debut of Nabucco at La Scala.

1842 1843-51 Wrote and produced thirteen operas, among them: I Lombardi, I due Foscari, Macbeth.

Edgar Allan Poe’s poem "The Raven" was first published.

1845 Irish Potato Famine destroyed the valuable potato crop in Ireland, ruining lives.

1845 The first doughnut with a hole in it was created.

1847 Verdi bought the Sant’Agata estate near Busseto, a vast property rich in woods, vineyards and water, 1848 which became his refuge, source of inspiration.

California’s Gold Rush began.

1849 1850 * The first women's medical school, the Women's Medical College of Pennsylvania, opened.

Verdi’s mother died.

1851 Verdi’s Rigoletto premiered in Venice.

1852-62 He composed Il trovatore, La traviata, I vespri siciliani, Simon Boccanegra, Un ballo in maschera, and La forza del destino.

Levi Strauss began selling tough pants to California gold miners. The first pair sold for $13.50 a dozen.

1853 1857 * Philadelphia’s Academy of Music opens with a concert conducted by Tchaikovsky.

Verdi married soprano Giuseppina Strepponi 1859 Verdi elected to Parliament under the Liberal Party.

1861 American Civil War takes place.

1861-65

The Edgar Allan Poe National Historical Site in Philadelphia is where the short story master and poet wrote such classics as “The Tell-Tale Heart,” “The Fall of the House of Usher” and “To Helen.”

Photo by R. Kennedy for GPTMC

First United States paper money was issued in denominations of $5, $10, $20, $50, $100, $500 and $1,000.

1862 1863-71 During these years Verdi composed Don Carlo and revised several earlier works.

The 13th Amendment to the Constitution abolishes slavery throughout the United States.

1865 In this year Verdi lost his father Carlo and his benefactor Barezzi.

1867 Charles Elmer Hires sold his first root beer in Philadelphia.

1869 * 1870 * The first section of the famous boardwalk in Atlantic City, N.J., opened to the public.

Aida premiered triumphantly in Cairo, Egypt.

1871 1872 * The Republican National Convention, the first major political party convention to include African Americans, was held

1874

1876 1877 1878 1878 1880 1881 1882 1884 1885 1887 1888 1889 1890 1892 1892 1893

1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1900 1901

in Philadelphia’s Academy of Music.

First performance of the Manzoni Requiem, considered by some to be the most beautiful religious music of its time. * The first United States zoo opened in Philadelphia.

A United States child labor law took 12 year olds out of work force.

Ice cream sodas appeared when soda fountain operator Robert Green ran out of his customary flavoring and substituted vanilla ice cream instead. Sales soared from $6 to $600 a day.

Alexander Graham Bell made the first telephone call.

The first department store opened in Philadelphia by John Wanamaker. * United States Supreme court ruled that race separation on trains was unconstitutional. * John Wise flew the first dirigible or blimp in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

Rodin created his sculpture "The Thinker."

In Alabama Tuskegee Institute was founded by former slave Booker T. Washington.

The first string of Christmas tree lights was created by Thomas Edison.

America's first roller coaster began operating at Coney Island, NYC. It hit a top speed of 6 mph.

Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was published.

Verdi’s opera Otello, based on the play by Shakespeare, premiered at La Scala.

Slavery was abolished in Brazil. More slaves had been imported (4 million) to Brazil than any other western hemisphere nation.

George Eastman placed the Kodak Camera on sale for first time. * Johnstown, Pennsylvania was destroyed by a massive flood, killing 2,209 people in the flood and related fire.

Ellis Island, NYC, opened as a United States immigration depot.

Peanut Butter was invented as a vegetarian protein supplement for people with missing teeth.

Sunday school teacher Lizzie Borden, accused of killing her father and stepmother with an ax in Fall River, Mass, was acquitted of the murders by an all-male jury.

The American Pledge of Allegiance was first recited in public schools to commemorate Columbus Day. Falstaff was presented at Milan’s La Scala theater. * Philadelphia observed the first Flag Day. * The Ferris Wheel is introduced at the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago by George Ferris.

The San Andreas Fault in California was detected.

Milton Hershey (1857-1945) founded Hershey Foods in Pennsylvania.

Frederick E. Blaisdell patented the pencil.

The first movie theater in United States opened and charged 10 cents for admission.

The United States Supreme Court ruled 7 to 1 to give states the authority to segregate people racially.

Verdi’s second wife, Giuseppina Strepponi, died on Nov. 14. * World renowned singer and civil rights pioneer Marian Anderson was born in Philadelphia. * Paul Robeson (d.1976), athlete, actor and singer, was born in Princeton, NJ. * The first amusement pier opened in Atlantic City, NJ. The first automobile was sold.

The hamburger was created by Louis Lassing in Connecticut. * The first annual Mummers parade was held in Philadelphia.

Verdi died at the Grand Hotel in Milan, Italy, at age 87, after spending Christmas with his dearest friends.

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Rodin’s The Thinker on display along Philadelphia’s Benjamin Franklin Parkway Photo by B. Krist for GPTMC

The original Ferris Wheel at 1893 Chicago World’s Fair.

A Woman Named

Rose

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The opera La traviata is based upon a historical character. Her name was Rose Alphonsine Plessis. She was born on January 15, 1824. Her mother was of a long established family of Normandy farmers. Her father was a traveling salesman.

Rose’s early life was hectic and unstable. Her parents fought until their marriage came apart. Rose’s father abused her and eventually sold her to strangers as a servant. At the age of twelve, she escaped to Paris, hoping to find a life for herself.

She changed her name to Marie Duplessis. She loved camellias, an odorless and expensive flower which contains evergreen leaves and a variety of multi-colored petals. Marie was reputedly the most elegant woman in Paris, fond of music, gambling, shopping and horse racing. This was the woman with whom Alexandre Dumas fils fell in love following their first meeting in September 1844 at a Parisian theater. But Marie had other lovers and the young Dumas was unable to continually satisfy her expensive lifestyle.

Rose was one of many young girls who came to Paris from the French countryside seeking freedom from family problems. These girls were the original female bohemians, called grisettes. The name is derived from the cheap grey cloth which they wore as dresses. They worked long hours, lived in very poor conditions, and suffered greatly. They worked all day and night just to earn enough to eat less than one meal a day. Their poverty and poor health led many of them to die of consumption (the disease we know today as tuberculosis).

After a short fling, Marie left Dumas and for a while attached herself to other protectors, including the composer Franz Liszt and an eighty year old Russian count. But the disease she had caught in the grisette slum grew stronger. It was then that Count Edward of Perregaux, whom Marie had rejected years earlier, noticed her failing health and again offered her his hand and protection. They were married in England. She had accepted his proposal knowing that her remaining years would be few and that the Count would not follow her back to France (where their marriage was not considered valid). She returned to Paris, calling herself the Comtesse de Perregaux.

She died on February 2, 1847, at her home on Rue de la Madeleine, a street named after the saint of fallen women.

Yet, while they may have suffered, they were free. This was a time when women were property, legally tied to their fathers until marriage. Once married, they were the property of their husbands. Theirs was a world in which women had few legal rights. Grisettes were social outcasts and unacceptable as brides.

Rose yearned for freedom and was determined to use her beauty, grace, dignity, charm, and wit to her advantage. She escaped poverty without giving up her freedom. A husband might abuse her and she would be powerless under the laws of the time to stop him.

Rose left the world of the grisettes. She worked hard to lose her Norman accent, taught herself to read, and stayed abreast of current news, fashion, gossip and became one of Paris’ most successful courtesans, a free-living woman of society that had men who paid for her company.

After hearing of her death, the deeplysaddened young Dumas considered writing a play about their relationship. When he learned that the censors objected to the idea, he instead wrote a novel, changing Marie’s name to “Marguerite Gautier.” It is said he wrote the book in seven days. Eventually, he was able to write his desired play, which premiered in February, 1852. Thanks in part to Verdi’s . opera, La traviata it is still playing.

ACTIVE LEARNING 1. Take out Dumas’ La Dame aux Camélias from the library.

2. Research and draw the camellia flower.

An Ancient Killer Returns

Tuberculosis Violetta’s fatal illness in our opera is consumption, the disease we know today as tuberculosis (TB). This ancient disease haunted humanity for thousands of years. The first scientists who worked at understanding it were from the land of this opera, France. Gaspard Laurent Bayle (1774-1816) and René Laënnec (1781-1826) studied and documented the progressive stages of the illness until it killed both of them. Robert Koch (1843-1910), a German microbiologist who founded modern medical bacteriology, isolated the bacteria that causes the disease. In 1882, Koch presented his findings showing that the tubercle bacillus was the cause of the illness. In time, researchers from around the world confirmed his findings. This discovery enabled doctors to improve their diagnosis of the disease.

It was discovered that the bacteria that caused TB were often in the saliva of the person infected. As the disease led the person to cough, these bacteria became airborne in small droplets of saliva and then were carried on dust particles. When another person breathed the bacteria into their lungs, they became infected with the disease. Only about one in ten with TB became seriously ill with the infection. However, some were too poor to eat properly, or didn’t get enough sleep because they worked many hours just to make enough money to survive. In these cases, their immune systems would fail and the bacteria would then grow stronger. In time, they could become deathly sick.

At the turn of the last century, many people in cities were dying of the disease.

Fortunately, in 1944, American microbiologist Selman Abraham Waksman discovered streptomycin. The use of antibiotics enabled many infected people to recover from the disease.

For a time, it was thought that antibiotics would enable us to wipe TB from the earth. If we could cure people suffering from TB, maybe the day would come when no one would be suffering from it.

Unfortunately, infected persons had to take an antibiotic for up to six months and sometimes for over a year. This was necessary if they were to totally destroy the bacteria that caused the illness. For many

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years, people followed their doctor’s orders and took their medication. As a result, the number of people dying from TB decreased every year until the mid 1980’s.

However, as more and more poorer people in cities became ill, it was soon not easy to keep track of them to see if they had taken their pills. Since nature has ways of adapting to the environmental changes that threaten one of its species, the people who failed to take all of their medication began to develop new kinds of mutated TB. These new strains of the disease now resist antibiotics. Today the World Health Organization reports that over fifty million people have a form of TB that resists antibiotics at present. They also state that one third of the human population now have the TB bacteria in their lungs. In 1995 alone, 3 million people died of TB. The incurable form of TB now kills over 50% of the people it infects. This fact helps us to realize that all of us must take all of the medication prescribed by our doctors. There is now hope that our leading scientists will develop a vaccine for TB in the near future. In some countries, a tuberculosis vaccine is used, but it is not generally administered in the United States because of infrequent TB cases here.

ACTIVE LEARNING 1. Research the life of Dr. Koch and find out what other major disease he researched.

2. Learn more about tuberculosis by visiting the Center for Disease Control web site at www.cdc.gov.

Poster promoting better health care through the prevention of tuberculosis by better eating and sleeping habits, and exposure to sunshine.

May 14 1941.

Work Projects Administration Poster Collection (Library of Congress).

Courtesans and

The Jazz Age

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Violetta is a woman who is liberated, defiant, and knows what she wants. She celebrates her freedom by living life to its fullest, even when knowing that she is ill.

In Act I she says “I put my faith in pleasure as a cure for all my ills.”

Courtesans That boldness helps define Violetta as a character. She is a celebrated courtesan, or a woman who was paid for her company.

Courtesans were not merely prostitutes, per se, but intelligent and generally educated who women were expected to entertain, be able to discuss politics and current events, display a charming wit and perfect manners, attend the theater and cultural events, and more. They were the mistresses of wealthy men who in turn provided them with a comfortable living – even more comfortable than many middle class women.

Courtesans frequently had worked their way up from the grisettes or prostitution, to become financially independent and free. They only stayed with a lover who could provide them with a high standard of living, or they would move on to one who could. They demanded to be treated to beautiful clothing, a wonderful apartment, jewels, and more. In return they were to entertain their clients as he wished, whether it be physically or mentally.

Living life on the edge, two young flappers demonstrate the Charleston on the roof of Chicago´s Sherman Hotel, December 11,1926.

Men hired courtesans not just for their companionship, but also as a sort of status symbol. These women were their trophies that could be displayed into society. Only men of certain wealth could afford such an indulgence, and some of the “trophies” were more expensive than others!

Men turned to courtesans to provide them with an excitement that their wives couldn’t. Courtesans were valued for their sizzling personality and pizzazz, while wives were expected to be modest and obedient.

Courtesans were frequently seen in public, mixing with the wealthy bourgeoisie. They lived as well as if not better than many of the public, and went to the same social and cultural events and “hot spots.” The difference between the independently wealthy upper class and the courtesans was that the upper class had gained their financial wealth though inheritance or through socially accepted careers, whereas courtesans sold their bodies.

Some courtesans would have other jobs as well as artists, actresses, or dancers. If you’re familiar with the movie Moulin Rouge, Satine (played by Nicole Kidman) is both an actress and a courtesan. Other women became courtesans for other reasons; some wanted to work their way up in society or in court, and others were actually married but went into the profession to gain those items which their husbands could not provide.

Courtesans could establish very successful careers. Many continued in their professions for as long as they found benefactors willing to pay for their services. Courtesans could be passed on from one benefactor to another as a favor to the courtesan, or would set up an arranged marriage for her to a benefactor. If a courtesan angered or dissatisfied a benefactor, her reputation would be ruined and she might then be forced to return to prostitution on the street.

The Jazz Age La traviata, an opera with a courtesan as its heroine was shocking and disgusting to some.

Opera Company Artistic Director Robert B. Driver directs this production of La traviata. He

has decided to update the opera to an era in which behavior such as Violetta’s would still be considered shocking. He said, “I wanted to give it a more modern look, but keep it within a period in which the social relationships are still relevant - the period between the wars. It brings it just a little bit closer to our time, but it’s certainly a different feel from the 19th century and hoop skirts!”

Women’s roles changed during the 1920s and 30s. “The Jazz Age” emboldened women to cut their hair into a “bob” style, wear shorter skirts, begin smoking and more. The new “flapper” fashion style was scandalous; in 1919, the standard dress only exposed 10% of a woman’s flesh; by 1927, 25% percent was visible! Thanks to movies, were now influenced

by Hollywood to emulate the slim figures of actresses.

Flappers transformed young women in the 1920s. Frowned upon by society, flappers went against acceptable behavior of the time and embraced their sexuality, drank, drove cars, and were defiant. It’s as if Violetta’s character traits in La traviata, a strong and confident woman unafraid of her sexuality, had been born in these rebellious women just after World War I. Up until this point, women did not have jobs, other than teachers or nurses, but stayed at home and tended to the family. However, after World War I, women went to work in industrial plants, as accountants, factory workers, telephone operators, and more.

Women proved that they could do the job as well as a manproved that they could do the job as well as a man could.

For the first time, unmarried women now had their own money to spend and greater freedom. Fashion changed and was sexier.

Makeup had been something that only prostitutes wore, but during the Jazz Age, women of all ages began to wear makeup.

changing women’s roles and the first step towards women’s liberation. Violetta may be flaunting herself in a different era, but society still looks down upon her, no matter how glamrous she seems.

ACTIVE LEARNING 1. Learn more about the changing roles of women by researching in the library or internet.

2. How did women’s fashion change in the 1920s and 30s?

Create your own fashion collection finding images online.

The 1920s 1920

- The 19th Ammendment to the U.S. Constitution granted women the right to vote.

- Jun 13, The U.S. Post Office Department ruled that children may not be sent by parcel post.

- Nov 25, The 1st Thanksgiving Parade was held in Philadelphia.

1921

- The number of Americans in Paris swelled from 6,000 to 30,000 between 1921 and 1924.

- The lie detector was invented.

1923

- Coco Chanel launched Chanel No.5 perfume in Paris.

- Enda St. Vincent Millay becomes the first women to be awarded the Pulitzer Prize for poetry.

- The "Charleston" dance craze sweeps America.

- Time Magazine was created in 1923, making it the first weekly news magazine in the United States.

1924

- Jan 25, the 1st Winter Olympic games opened in Chamonix, France.

1925

- "Flapper" dresses became extremely fashionable.

- Adolf Hitler published his book Mein Kampf.

1927

- Babe Ruth made home run history, hitting 60 home runs in one season.

- The first talking movie, The Jazz Singer, premiered.

1928

- Apr 23, child star Shirley Temple Black was born.

- Jun 17, Amelia Earhart embarked on a transAtlantic flight with 2 pilots, becoming the first woman to make the trip as a passenger.

- Bubble Gum was invented.

- Mickey Mouse debuted in movie theaters in Steamboat Willie.

- The first loaf of pre-sliced bread was packaged and sold.

1929

- The first car radio was invented.

- The first Academy Awards were presented.

- The Great Stock Market Crash preceeds the Great Depression.

In 1920, women in America earned the right to vote. It changed the game for women in America. Suddenly, women’s voices could now be heard about how they wanted the country to be run.

In this production, the decadent world of the courtesan breaks into the 20th Century.

Upper class society mixes with the frowned upon new generation of women, reflecting

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La traviata

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Portrait of Fanny Salvini-Donatelli (1815-1891), who sang Violetta in the world premiere of the La traviata in 1853.

Troubled Beginning Giuseppe Verdi’s La traviata (The Fallen Woman) is one of his most-loved operas. It is the story of the tragic romance of Violetta Valery, a famous and refined Parisian courtesan who is judged harshly by refined society, and Alfredo Germont, a sincere, poetic, idealistic young man from a respectable family of the French countryside.

The opera is based in part on the real-life romance between the French writer Alexandre Dumas fils and an illustrious courtesan known to history and legend as Marie Duplessis.

Dumas first met Marie in 1844. He immortalized her and their love affair in a novel he wrote in 1848, La dame aux camelias (The Lady of the Camelias), following a year of anguished mourning after Marie’s death on February 3, 1847. Dumas adapted his novel into a play in 1849. The play, however, was not performed until 1852 because of difficulties with Parisian censors and government officials.

Later, it was revived as a vehicle for leading stage actresses. The story also inspired several ballets and film versions, most notably the classic 1936 Greta Garbo film, Camille.

When Verdi composed La traviata in 1852, he was living in his hometown of Busseto with his girlfriend Giuseppina Strepponi. Verdi and Strepponi were in Paris when the Dumas novel was first published. Verdi described the story as “simple, moving, passionate.” They saw the Dumas play in the Paris Vaudeville Theater in February 1852 soon after it had opened. Verdi sent a copy of the play to his friend Francesco Maria Piave to be transformed into an opera libretto. Verdi wrote the musical sketches for the opera between November 1852 and March 1853.

The first performance of La traviata (Venice, March 6, 1853) was a complete failure.

Verdi had wanted to perform the opera in contemporary mid-nineteenth-century costumes to keep the flavor and atmosphere of Dumas’ story. The opera’s original title was Amore e Morte (Love and Death). However, government censors persuaded Verdi to change the title and shift the time to the beginning of the eighteenth century, when Louis XIV ruled France. The resulting production angered the opening night audience since the setting was inconsistent with the well-known story. The bulky French period costumes prevented the singers from expressing the true emotional quality of the music. In addition, the cast was a collection of problems. The tenor singing Alfredo was hoarse, but neglected to inform the theater’s management of his condition prior to the performance. The baritone singing Alfredo’s father considered this role to be beneath his talents. Finally, the soprano singing Violetta was overweight and unsuited to the role despite her fine voice. When the doctor announced in the final act that Violetta was dying of consumption, the audience roared with laughter. Even a few favorable press reviews of Verdi’s music failed to ease the poor impression of this first performance.

Following the fiasco, Verdi considered withdrawing the opera, but did not lose faith in his creation. “Time will tell,” he said. The opera ran for nine performances, and did fairly well at the box office. However, no other Italian theaters were willing to perform the opera. Verdi made a few revisions and, with a different cast, the opera was revived a year later (May 6, 1854) in another Venetian theater. This performance was an outstanding success, despite keeping the Louis XIV setting. The opera quickly became a universal favorite. Surprisingly, it was not staged anywhere in its intended Dumas-period setting until 1906.

The American premiere took place at the Brooklyn Academy of Music on December 3, 1856 and the first performance in Philadelphia’s Academy of Music took place on March 13, 1857. (See page 36 for a review of this historic performance.)

La traviata Plot

Synopsis ACT I: In the salon of her Paris home, the beautiful, young Violetta greets her party guests. Among them is a new admirer, Alfredo Germont, who expresses the pleasure-loving creed of the group in a spirited drinking song. Violetta joins in his salute to the joys of love, wine and laughter. The guests move to another room for dancing, but Violetta remains behind, feeling ill. Alfredo stays behind also and confesses his love for her. Violetta is touched by Alfredo’s sincerity, and promises to meet him the following day. When the guests have finally departed, Violetta ponders if Alfredo is truly the one to fulfill her need for love. Though her heart is pulling her towards Alfredo, she declares her preference for freedom and a life of pleasure.

Act II, Scene 1.

Living with Violetta in a countryside villa near Paris, Alfredo expresses his contentment with this new lifestyle. But when the maid Annina reveals that Violetta has gone to Paris to pawn her belongings, Alfredo leaves for the city to settle matters in his own way. Violetta returns to find an invitation from her friend Flora to a party that evening, but she declares she has no intention of returning to her previous life. Alfredo’s father comes to bully her into giving up his son, claiming that the continued relationship with Violetta will bring further scandal to the Germont family and rupture Alfredo’s sister’s chances of a good marriage. Despite Violetta’s protests, the elder Germont eventually persuades her to do as he asks.

Violetta sends a note to Flora accepting the party invitation, and is writing a farewell note to Alfredo when he suddenly appears. She repeats her vow of love before rushing out. A messenger delivers to Alfredo the farewell note, just as his father enters to offer consolation. But Alfredo, seeing the party invitation, is furious, and determines to follow Violetta and seek revenge.

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Alfredo misunderstands her fear and asks if she loves the baron. Bound by her promise to Alfredo’s father, Violetta pretends that she does love Douphol.

Alfredo calls everyone into the room, denounces Violetta, and throws his winnings at her. The elder Germont enters and joins the guests in a rebuke to Alfredo, climaxed by the baron’s challenging Alfredo to a duel.

Act III.

In Violetta’s bedroom, the physician Dr. Grenvil tells Annina her mistress has not long to live. Alone, Violetta reads a letter from Alfredo’s father, telling her that the baron was only wounded and that Alfredo is coming to beg her forgiveness.

But Violetta also senses that her time is late. As carnival sounds are heard from the street below, Alfredo rushes in to renew his vow of love for Violetta. The two plan to leave Paris forever. The elder Germont enters with the doctor, and Violetta expresses joy at seeing the people she loves. After feeling a final rush of life returning, her strength ebbs and she falls dead.

Act II, Scene 2.

At Flora’s home in Paris, the hostess learns that Violetta and Alfredo have separated. The party is entertained by gypsies and dancers dressed as matadors. Alfredo arrives, gambling wildly as he bitterly comments about love.

Violetta comes in, escorted by the Baron Douphol, who challenges Alfredo at the gaming tables but loses a small fortune. When everyone has gone to supper, Violetta asks Alfredo to leave the party in order to prevent his provoking the baron’s anger.

Gypsies entertain the guests at Flora’s party in Act II, scene ii of La traviata.

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n i t e l l u B Evening

Saturday, March 14, 1857 THE ITALIAN OPERA ta. rdinary Success of La travia First Performance and Extrao ntrast with what to her is in strong co d ne sig as of y But Madame in the Academ the opening act. in s Every foot of space wa it re mo the tragic and last evening and a is even greater in a nig zza Ga Music was occupied d se g fun of the s never been witnes she is in the rollickin an th r de ten brilliant audience ha s wa ordinary multitude first scenes. anywhere. The extra attraction of the ry ina ord tra ex e th celebrated bedroom caused by The last act is the Verdi’s new opera, ta, via s in tra La of n productio x Camellias, and it wa Dame aux Camellias. scene of La Dame au La of new ry sto led e ea th rev on zzaniga founded is that Madame Ga th t. ever iri sp an th ing re az mo with am rself to be The first act went off genius, and proved he d ble an rri ho ity e ac th of viv s none was all great artist. There wa a Madame Gazzaniga at d th an les y, ab ett ree pr room disag uncommonly ughing and the sickco brilliancy; looked an oli s ign wa Br it t r bu no in the play; ry spirit. Sig are often represented sang with extraordina , , “Libiamo, ng so ing entation of tenderness ink res dr e rep th id uncommonly viv sang his verse of l it de k io! too dd e “A sh ia en The ar way, and th tress and suffering. dis Libiamo”, in a quiet th to wi t as bu on ati er, im isp in a half wh with such an passato”, was sung up and dashed it off effect. scene was ole wh e Th e. pression and great ex us ho se e most inten th bring down the l ua sung, eq y th tel wi isi qu ra”, was ex s sung again The duo, “Parigi, o ca re-demanded and wa sort y an th wi had acted and if Signor Brignoli success. e. tiv ec eff ry ve have been ice”,...was extremely of intelligence, it would fel re dì we n g “U gin o, sin du d e Th e acting an dame In the dying scene th was in this that Ma well done, and it at gre e. wonderfully fin ed us that she had Gazzaniga first show at gre er oth r he ences of opinion to d to ad ere may be differ Th skill in execution, e en sc as a musical tic singer. Her grand merits of La traviata e th t ou ab powers as an opera e th no doubt that it fors’ é lui”, with n, but there can be itio os mp co which followed- “ah r tte be pularity, and that pre libera”, was still elements of great po e th s ha brilliant allegro “Sem t, ac st lodies that will curtain fell on the fir ually full of simple me us un is it done, and when the in d ar ting piece it is st applause ever he the memory. As an ac on up ize se it was amid the loude d lle ca thout a woman of e great artist was se excellent. But wi ur co of the Opera House. Th e nc die zzaniga, in the curtain and the au s, like Madame Ga niu ge at gre out twice before the e tim go off tamely, delight. Until this letta, the opera would Vio of rt pa seemed wild with d ha t its success... As extraordinary talen to her that it owes all is it d an Madame Gazzaniga’s no w ta would be , but there was no spectacle, La travia re me a not been appreciated ed sical em ubt not that its mu d the multitude se attractive; but we do question about it an long a to draw crowds for to it. merits will suffice eager to do homage are ats that all the se the beginning of nights. We learn s at , rie ce se an rom l tifu The beau . nor taken for this evening s cleverly sung by Sig of the second act, wa and ene between Violetta Brignoli. The great sc e.

Mm by ng su mely well Germont was extre y’s lad e th d an ACTIVE LEARNINGCompany of Philadelphia’s r Amodio, Gazzaniga and Signo on “N ia ar e th Clip the review of the Opera only fine. In class. Post your own acting was uncomm d an s ur rm La traviata and bring it to mu of d tion ize duc on pro ag , en ok to the web and visit sapete”, her br up her lover opera on our blog. Just go the ing of giv iew of rev a ide e th and you’ll see your her distress at eraphillysol.blogspot.com the character d .op ar ww rw ://w efo http nc He e. tiv were very effec music review published there! ll as that of the of Violetta, as we

Compose Your Own Review

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Let us know what you thought of the opera. Use this word bank for ideas when composing your own review of the opera and hand it in to your teacher. Or share your thoughts with the world at our online blog at http://operaphillysol.blogspot.com

Academy of Music Alfredo Baron chorus

composer conductor costumes director

Germont Jazz Age librettist lighting

music orchestra plot props

set singing smoking Violetta

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Conflicts and Loves in La traviata Draw a picture of Violetta in the middle circle. In the outer circles, draw a picture of four individuals with whom she has a direct relationship. Then in the boxes pointing toward the middle circle, write how that individual feels about the her. In the boxes pointing to the outer circles, write how Violetta feels about that individual.

Glossary Underlined words are used in the libretto and are underlined in the libretto as well. act (akt) n. one of the main divisions of a play or opera. agitate (aj-i-teyt) v. to disturb or excite emotionally allegro (uh-leg-roh) adv. musical term for fast and lively. alto (al-toh) n. the range of the female voice between mezzo-soprano and contralto.

Andalusia (an-duh-loo-shee-uh) n. A region in S Spain, bordering on the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. andante (ahn-dahn-tey) adv. a musical term meaning in moderately slow time. antagonist (an-tag-o-nist) n. an adversary or opponent of the main character or protagonist in an opera, play, or other drama. ardent (ahr-dnt) adj. having, expressive of, or characterized by intense feeling; passionate; fervent. aria (ahr-ee-uh) n. an operatic song for one voice. attainable (uh-tey-nuh-buhl) adj. capable of being achieved or accomplished.

Avenge (uh-venj) v. to take vengeance or exact satisfaction for: to avenge a grave insult bar (bahr) n. a division of music containing a set number of beats. baritone (bar-i-tohn) n. the range of the male voice between tenor and bass. bass (beys) n. the lowest male singing voice. beat (beet) n. the basic pulse of a piece of music. chalice (chal-is) n. a drinking cup or goblet. chord (kord) n. a group of notes played at the same time in harmony. chorus (kawr-uhs) n. 1. a group of singers. 2. a piece of music for these. chronological (kron-l-oj-i-kuhl) adj. a method of arrangement that puts events in order of occurrence. contemptuous (kuhn- temp-choo-uhs) adj. showing or expressing a feeling of disdain or worthlessness; scornful contralto (cuhn-tral-toh) n. the lowest female singing voice. convalescence (kon-vuh-les-uhns) n. the gradual recovery of health and strength after illness. corsage (kawr-sahzh) n. a small bouquet worn at the waist, on the shoulder, on the wrist, etc., by a woman. delirium (dih-leer-ee-uhm) n. a state of violent excitement or emotion. deuce (doos, dyoos) n. devil; dickens (used as a mild oath): Where the deuce did they hide it? disdain (dis-deyn, dih-steyn) n. a feeling of contempt for anything regarded as unworthy; scorn. extravagant (ik-strav-uh-guhnt) adj. exceeding the bounds of reason in actions, demands, needs, or passions. feat (feet) n. a noteworthy or extraordinary act or achievement, usually displaying boldness, skill, etc. flat (b) (flat) adj. a half-step lower than the corresponding note or key of natural pitch. forte (f) (for-tay) adv. loudly. fortissimo (ff) (for-tee-see-moh) adv. a musical term for very loud. fib (fib) n. a small or trivial lie; minor falsehood. indignant (in-dig-nuhnt) adj. feeling of strong displeasure at something considered unjust, offensive, or insulting. infamy (in-fuh-mee) n. an extremely bad reputation due to a shameful act or circumstance. infatuation (in-fach-oo-ey-shuhn) n. foolish or all-absorbing passion or an instance of this. intoxicate (in-tok-si-keyt) v. to make enthusiastic; elate strongly, as by intoxicants (as in drunkeness). key (kee) n. the basic note of the main scale used in a piece of music. In the key of G, for example, G is the fundamental note; the music often returns to it and comes to rest on it. kindle (kin-dl) v. to excite; stir up or set going; animate; rouse; inflame. largo (lahr-goh) adv. a musical term meaning in slow time and dignified style. leitmotiv (lahyt-mo-teev) n. a melodic passage or phrase associated with a specific character, situation, or element. libretto (li-bret-oh) n. the words of an opera or other long musical.

Louis d'or (loo-ee dawr) n. a former gold coin of France, issued from 1640 to 1795; pistole. major (mahy-zer) adj. music in a major key uses a major scale, in which the first three notes are the key note followed by intervals of a tone and then another tone (for example, C, D, E). It often has a cheerful, strong sound.

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matador (mat-uh-dawr) n. the principal bullfighter in a bullfight; a torero. minor (my-ner) adj. music in a minor key uses a minor scale, in which the first three notes are the key note followed by intervals of a tone and then a semitone ( for example A, B, C). It often has a sad, melancholic sound. mirth (murth) n. gaiety or jollity, esp. when accompanied by laughter. muse (myooz) n. the goddess or the power regarded as inspiring a poet, artist, thinker, or the like. natural (nach-er-uhl) adj. a note that is neither flattened nor sharpened. oblivion (uh-bliv-ee-uhn) n. the state of forgetting or having been forgotten. octave (ok-tiv) n. a note that sounds twice as high in pitch as another, is an octave above the other note, and has the same letter naming it. opera (op-er-uh) n. a play in which the words are sung to musical accompaniment. orchestra (awr-keh-struh) n. a large body of people playing various musical instruments, including stringed and wind instruments. overture (oh-ver-cher) n. an orchestral composition forming a prelude to an opera or ballet. pianissimo (pp) (pee-ah-nees-ee-moh) adv. a musical term meaning very softly. piano (p) (pi-an-oh) 1. adv. a musical term meaning softly. 2. n. keyed percussion instrument first named pianoforte because it could play both softly and loudly. picador (pik-uh-dawr) n. one of the mounted assistants to a matador. pious (pahy-uhs) adj. characterized by a hypocritical concern with virtue or religious devotion. presto (pres-toh) adv. a musical term meaning very fast. quadruped (kwod-roo-ped) n. and adj an animal, esp. a mammal, having four feet. rapturously (rap-cher-uhs) adj. full of, feeling, or manifesting ecstatic joy or delight. remorse (ri-mawrs) n. deep and painful regret for wrongdoing. revel (rev-uhl) n. to take great pleasure or delight (usually fol. by in): to revel in luxury. scale (skayl) n. a series of notes arranged in descending or ascending order of pitch. semitone (sem-i-tohn) n. a half step or half tone, an interval midway between two whole tones. sharp (#) (shahrp) n. any note a semitone higher than another note. Also, slightly too high in pitch. solace (sohl-is) n. comfort in sorrow, misfortune, or trouble; alleviation of distress or discomfort. soprano (so-prah-noh) n. the highest female or boy's singing voice. stage (stayj) n. a platform on which a public performance is given before an audience. staging (stay-jing) n. the presentation or production on the stage. sterile (ster-il) adj. 1. barren. 2. free from germs or microorganisms. sublime (suh-blahym) adj. impressing the mind with a sense of grandeur or power; inspiring awe. swain (sweyn) n. a male admirer or lover. symphony (sim-foh-nee) n. a long musical composition (usually in several parts) for a full orchestra. synopsis (si-nop-sis) n. a summary, a brief general survey. tone (tohn) n. 1. an interval equal to two semitones. 2. the sound quality of an instrument or voice. verismo (vuh-riz-moh ) n. realism in opera. vicomte (vee-kawnt) n. a French viscount or nobleman. vortex (vawr-teks) n. a whirling water mass, esp one in which a force of suction operates, as a whirlpool. zest (zest) n. keen relish; hearty enjoyment; gusto.

From Dictionary.com. Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Š Random House, Inc. 2010.

The School District of Philadelphia School Reform Commission Robert L. Archie Jr., Esq., Chairman

Sounds of Learning™ was established by a generous grant from The Annenberg Foundation.

Denise McGregor Armbrister, member Joseph A. Dworetzky, member Amb. David F. Girard-diCarlo, Ret., member Johnny Irizarry, member Dr. Arlene C. Akerman

Superintendent of Schools and Interim Chief Academic Officer

Dennis W. Creedon, Ed.D. Administrator, Office of Creative and Performing Arts

Dedicated funding for the Sounds of Learning™ program has been provided by: $20,000 to $49,999 Glenmede Hamilton Family Foundation Lincoln Financial Group Foundation Presser Foundation Universal Health Services

Written and produced by: Opera Company of Philadelphia Community Programs Department ©2010 1420 Locust Street, Suite 210 Philadelphia, PA, U.S.A. 19102 Tel: (215) 893-3600 Fax: (215) 893-7801 www.operaphila.org/community Michael Bolton

Director of Community Programs

bolton@operaphila.org Aedín Larkin

Community Programs Intern

Opera Company of Philadelphia Robert B. Driver

Artistic Director

Corrado Rovaris Music Director

David B. Devan

Executive Director

Michael Bolton

Director of Community Programs

The Opera Company of Philadelphia is supported by major grants from The William Penn Foundation, The Pew Charitable Trusts, and The Lenfest Foundation.

Additional support is provided by the Independence Foundation and the Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation.

The Opera Company of Philadelphia receives state arts funding support through a grant from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, a state agency funded by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

$10,000 to $19,999 The ARAMARK Charitable Fund at the Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program Citizens Bank Foundation Ellis A. Gimbel Charitable Trust Ethel Sergeant Clark Smith Memorial Fund Eugene Garfield Foundation GlaxoSmithKline Foundation Hirsig Family Fund Morgan Stanley Foundation The Patricia Kind Family Foundation PNC Bank Foundation Samuel S. Fels Fund $5,000 to $9,999 Alpin J. & Alpin W. Cameron Memorial Trust Bank of America Charitable Foundation McLean Contributionship Sheila Fortune Foundation Wachovia Foundation $1,000 to $4,999 Dolfinger-McMahon Foundation Louis N. Cassett Foundation Reading Anthracite Company

larkin@operaphila.org Special thanks to: Robert B. Driver

Dr. Dennis W. Creedon

Creator, Sounds of Learning™ Curriculum Consultant

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Operations Manager Academy of Music

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Design Concept

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2009 2010

Opera Company of Philadelphia

1420 Locust Street, Suite 210, Philadelphia, PA 19102 T (215) 893-3600 F (215) 893-7801 www.operaphila.org

OPERA at the Academy Madama Butterfly

Tea: A Mirror of Soul

La Traviata

October 9, 11m, 14, 16, 18m

February 19, 21m, 24, 26, 28m

May 7, 9m, 12, 14, 16m

2009

2010

2010

OPERA @ the Perelman Antony & Cleopatra *

Orphée & Euridice

March 17, 19, 21m

June 19m, 23, 25

2010

2010

* The Kimmel Center Presents Curtis Opera Theatre’s production in association with Opera Company of Philadelphia