LA TRAVIATA, (Opera in four pats by FRANCESCO MARIA FAVE (after the play La Dame aux camélas by Alexandre Duras ie performed tthe Teatro le 6 March 1853, VIOLETTA VALERY, sidemi-mondaine PRIMA DONNA SOPRANO. FLORA BERVOIX, MEZZO-SOPRANO Speranza Giuseppini ‘COMPRIMARIO SECONDA DONNA, Carlotta Berini EDO GERMONT ——_FRIMo TENORE Ludovico Graziani GIORGIO GERMONT, PMO BARrTON. Felice Varesi his father ‘TENORE COMPRIMARIO) Angelo Zuliani [BARITONO COMPRIMARIO Francesco Dragone Violeta’ protect IL MARCHESE D'OBIGNY, friend SECONDO BASSO CoRIFEO Hasso Comsnisioner COREG BASSO Ladies and ge and Flora~ Matadors, picadors ‘and gi sand Flora ~ masks, et pace iad around. Epoch: c.1700 (ova, The first act takes place in August, che second in January the tied in February.) Fanny Salvini-Donatelli Arnaldo Silvests G.Tona Antonio Mazsini ewe remembered how, na eter to Canmarano of, Verdi had spoken of “another mbes whic simple and tender to which they cold change hate id ot spel oh Tis caken by Calo tn his mind. But the names suggested as i.e. the powerful, bravura soprano such she empha ‘realize the part quite diferenty. Eve ‘were iced by aspecal visto Buseto ftom the theatre secretary, Guglielmo Brenna, in April. Piave was to be the libres the opera was to be staged in March the following yeer.Brean's report tothe President happy about the choice of prima donna asolut ws that Verdi was not ent ‘ype'f Few rules in Verdi’s book ae without exceptions. The next yest he 4 writing €o Antonio Somma about carting the foal n King Lear ta conto. Brenna continuesarc, but since she has buen described to him as being very good and having strong vocal reources he would reserve the right ro use her as asoluta if ced be, Ihe coud. On 36 Jl he wrote again to Mare the end of September, since ‘apart fom the fi op up by the hunde atthe medioerity ofthe compan agai that fring tern] I would ave odin thanking him for sending him a copy o fier having ween the piece performed several times in Pari inced that you could make magnificent pieces of music oxt of an opers' +f The search fora ibreto continued throughout August and September He med down Py ig pxtentna and when the poet tied ny were being pres bythe poi, Ke was decided tallow Plave ‘Verdi in his new home at S. Agata. Ie was during this vist that the ough occurred, Plave wrote back to Brenna: It was the same story as En lbretto alm finshed’ ~ which one we may never got catred away by anoth ('d done and start all over again. I chink that Ve ‘ve seen him so worked up.’ No word as to whatexused ths last-minute yovay the synopsis was apstchedto the Venetian censorship, wo, accustomed boy now to conceding the spirit if not the letter of Verdi’ equiremes ing the proponed ttl of Amore «mate On New Yeas Day 18s) he For Veice'm doing Le Dame a coméls which vill probably ‘A rubjec for ote own age. Another composer wouldn't case ofthe costumes, the period and thousand orher il scruples. of ote tae bis ending of ove Nel ples eae ‘without any understanding ~ and it’s my best ope remembered that ten years ago be himself had baulked changed. ‘Le Dain eux camas was a bold choice but avery sound one. Wagner, icmay be remembered, held that myths made the best subjects for music drama. The plot of| ally a myth, one the less universal for being modern and for Ineeas the myths of Ancient Greece have cot owth of this one. It can be wen dimly emerging in a ar greater work of at than [Abbé Prévost's navel Maron Lesa “This is important to establish since in his own wotk Duma i continually using 6a point of reference, Here too the sj mon ing genuinely in love with a man who i unable thin the feamework ‘which the author bough ‘Marge book which Marguerite paige: ‘Ata key moment in the play the hero picks up 1g open ~ Manon Lescaut again, Hiseyestallon the Honger would cause me ishap and one day I would utter my las brcath thinking it was sigh oflove. adore you, you may count upon that, but le, Woe to him that allsnto my clutches! Tain working to make my chevalier rch and happy. My brother will bring you news of your Manon; he'll tell you that she wept at having to leave you as Manon Lescaut, the other point of ne Marguerite Gauthier was drawn, ‘celebrated demi-mondaines of hpp-NH ty as Dumas's own experience, The “Alphonsine Duplesis was one of the 7fifteen, where she swelled the ranks of the grisettes, working sta shop asiant by day and cheering te solide of artists and students by night. Within ashore time she had risen to the highest circles ofthe demimonde, sided we are told by a naturel, grace and distinction which would have become a duchess. She was kept succesively by the Due de Guise and an elderly Count Stackelberg, who installed her in a Iuwariows apartme ing: and he had been sostruck by ‘who had died from consumption that he wanted the savage letter of farewel "my DEAR Mani, [am not rich enough to love you x8 I would enough to be loved as you would desire So lt ws both of ut forget ~ you a mame which should be almost indifferent to you, happins forme. There is no need for me to tell youthae am sa of Frenchman to forg as in 1845, The next yea vent with a certain Vieomte de arid tol at the RerngtonRegiary Otic: Appeenty they id act together for long, A letter has survived in swhich she tll him that he is entirely free to lead whatever life he chooses she is concerned, She herself went from spa progres fiom novel ro play and then to opera we can watch fact gradually being transformed into a great work of practitioner his nove is more interesting than the play since it bears the stamp of Authenticity, an experience through which he himself has lived. Verdi’ opera is treater than either, “The main fictional contributions ro the novel are two, First ofall Marguerite and Armand do realize theit ideal of «house inthe country where they can be happy though not entirely alone since Marguerite hat nat cut herself off from her female Parisian fever from the elderly Count. Second brought about by ts Marguerite dr and induces her to give him up both for his sake and for thar of his sister whose coming marriage mand a letter telling him thats Here then is 2 most represented by the ly portrayed). Yet Prudence and Marguerite would greet with delight words which some people think amusing but which soil any lips that utter them. off from the din, my glass stood unempried and Iwasa y drinking and talk .°* During Armand’: confession jend Gaston and Prudence are making good use oftheir the house Gaston was able to assure him that, ‘She’ the Bowers were red. Whe she promised to become Arma red camellia from her corsage and gave it to im telling him to return when the flower had changed its colour since, “You cannot always carry out treaties the day you sign thers} The French have a dlicae way of expressing the cruder facts of if. ‘After she bas left Armand, he begins persccuting her in society. He risess one of her fiends, a certain Olympe, and encourages Marguerite whenever the meets her. At last Marguerite comes to his lodgings femonssste The lover ae temporal sconce and spend the night ge [Newt day Armand goes to her apartment and sees the carriage of her atest protector ‘outside the door. In a ary he returns home, and sends her soo francs in an envelope with a note, “You lef sucha hurry this moming that I forgot o pay you. Here is 1a De ax cms. Barbee Bra, Lon + ida 9‘THE OPERAS OF VERDI your fee for lst nght."* When next he goss back to the rue Madeleine he istold she bas fe for England. He is abroad when he hears of her death; but a certain Juli che diary which Marguerite had written daring the las two life Her thoughts were with Armand dl de end. Kisall ars biter canonly bea mater fr conjecture. Certainly the Ps teal Marguerite did lave for England when ber association with Dumas ended and ht together, curring as it does afer she had made che the incident of the last not allowed into the play any more than the red the reference to four-leter words ot the misbehaviour of Prudence and Gaston. The pain of Dumas’ experience was beginning to subside and he was more c the woman who had caused him so much suffering, Net tare had much choice, ifhe withed to see hs play performed. The Marguerite of the novel could not possibly have found her way onto any sage mn of hes character. The supper p hich « perfectly decoraus afi; Mar guet next Avian fightsa duc! wi asazeslt Siagoovive he country: but intime for afinal deathbed reunion“ ~yuevite, =a! "The play was the starting-point fox = and Verdi, and thi kept to it very closely, the only eal hiacus occurring between the supper party which akes up most of Act I and the establishment of Marguerite and Armand in the country. The cision of Duss Act I where Marguerite lays her card onthe table athe ike Manon in the pasage quoted is very much regretted by Exnest Newnsan (More Opera the prychological core ofthe play. Neither Verdi, be chatacters Matpuce in whow thee we something of ie wir swell ar the “grade emoureuse. "The borderline between the wo temperaments frequently very con which side of psychological probing forged fori by Straus in Quisote would be much beter equipped forthe realization as that of Marie Duplese than the lealian music of Verdi’ day always teying to endow thers, Where Dumas saysin one otis prices, ‘She wasone ofthe last and indeed the few courtesans with heart and chat is undoubtedly why the dis 10 young,” he i the victim of his own sesimenclity. She died young bbecaute she was consumpsive, and because he dseat in its tarm produced a craving, for pleanure which scelerzted her decline, Heart had nothing wo do wit typical Gallic realm, Dumas adds, "But Marie Duplesis never her case ie was the day + isa.tisfercot mors nable person altogether: and. that La Dame ow: caer should have appealed to the th subjects were bold and contemporary; and both combine ‘strong vein of morality, being essentially products of che new torthodony u xy for the individe whatever walk of age of humanism with is growing sympa life, The consumptive heroine may not seem much can innovation today since the Tales of Hofmann and La Bohime But ing for those days, particular since clinical deta not novery 3¢ the end was tken over by Bernard Shaw i har former life though for tensions chat we experience seizes the ring ftom Brimnhilde. One fels the agony of a betrayal which is same time not thing repulsive about it but iis ‘very gripping 2s cheatre. Cle and Rigo sve had proposed the period of Richelieu, doubtless with Manzoni Spos in mind, Verdi was determined on a contemporary etting ashe min Rome during the rehearsals of 1g 8 certain effecr in the frst ewo acts would have 9 compose tro numbe however * Doms hive Compl. 0. he. ‘whereas otherwiveTHE OPERAS OF VERDI century petiod style. jow he was forced to give way. A little while ater Pia ‘The archives of the contact dated 4 (October stating that she isto be releated feom her part in the new opera if Verdi found her unstable and provided he let che management knove this befor January. Presorabl sug ended by atking the ‘Elen Prive fora visit to S, Agata so as to put the admit, but asstically it isin the wrong, inworthy of the Gran Teatro going to write to Lasina * Maori rm Lao im to cancel every Ta nie, Baa Sp LA TRAVIATA “That was too much, An indignant memorandum signed by all three directors on. February empowered Brenna to goto S, Agata and recall the composer toa sense of, his obligations. Apparently the visit was succesfol, Brenna and Piave returned to Venice lenving Verdi to complete the still unfinished opera for which Piave was to supply further verses by post. The composer's ast letter before setting out for Venice us note: ve just had fom Venice an anonymous letter telling me have a complete fiasco. know, T evo, and I'll prove itt you." "The events of 6 March on the whole bore out Verdi's prediction, though he may have exaggerated the extent ofthe failure. After the frst night he dispatched a series ‘of cure notes to his friends of which the one addresed to Muzio Trovats was a faico; my fault or scqusintanee, the conductor Angelo Ms ‘Traviata has been an utter fiasco, and whats wore, they lau ‘rong or they ar. I personally de last word."s The pres, hough ‘opera had mis singers”? Time alone w the composer called several required sown how to make proper use ofthe vocal resources of at his disposal, Inthe whole of Slvini’s part there was oily the cavatina of the frst ac: litle or nothing for Graziani. For me only the adagio of an ara and this by the Venetian public who expected that I would be very ferdi had already written for me those two colosal roles of lause for the Brindisi and a good deal for: the grand duet between Salvini and myself shere wassome applause * Lester o Pav, 16.853. Moreen. 36 Like many composer f theme Ved tied the ote hab of refering tthe prncpal arkone as bus "Gazeta prea Vee t85. Ven Fe pt.forthe adagio and the cabaletea. Applause forthe finale ofA forthe composer and the artit. Thitd act ~ no applause; for Locatel's optimistic view that oes’ dies changed probably Uungraciousness is not hard to understand. From the other roles which he had cettd f can br dase hate wat one of he demas actos whe concentrate exclusively on the upper part of their voice, When the tone begins to La Travate didnot recover in the course of the seston; and though Ricordi as usual published the vocal score i was not taken up elewhere for more chan a year, But this ‘was Verdi’ doing. Other impresarios and conductors were only too ready to come to the rescue ofthe fallen warnan; but revival uals he could be sure ofa pefomance at Gena ith rmself was determined not to risk 3 le cat. Angelo Mariani wanted to mount compo who prevented ight capacity for expression. She forza’. He had more hopes ofa certain Noema de Rosi in a revival of ! Tovar. He wrote to Luce fing La Travate with acast Seitzr, Mand Teale el? Once (Naples, 1954), Cregg’ Vet pp 33-4 ‘Mona, Vr 18598) pe 19-6. LA TRAVIATA that include the baritone Cole (ereator of Gusman in Aleta and Francesco in 1 Mamadie), Franeeteo Landi and Maria Spezia. Verdi was in France a the time, at lee, but t long ast he yielded wo the insitence of Rico and gave the projecchisblesing since Dive wast hand wo asst with he production. He aked che pubiher fora copy ofthe score in order toa to the lower range of Caleni. He wrote back to Vig ‘of mine in cold blood effec than they did’ ‘which he dispatched to Ricordi ‘The succes of Lo Travie on 6 May 18s wall that could have been wished fo. Maria Spezia, young, pretty and as fail as her predecessor had been robust (so much so chat her performance in 1 Due Fosari some days before had given Piave serious cause for concern,f carried all before her. Verdi, on receiving the news, wrote Fenice apart from one or two transpositions of key anda few pun made to suit t better to the eapacity ofthese particular singer; thet land the purtature wil remain inthe score because I consider the opera as having been written forthe present cast. For the rest nota single piece has been altered, ‘nota piece added of taken away, not a musical idea changed. Ever that was there fr the Fenice i there forthe Teatro Benedetto. Then it was ther, But a manuscript score ‘Theatre enables us to examine the chang They will be dicussed inthe course of the commentary below. ‘The phenomenon of two such uterly diferent works ae if Trovatore and Le ‘Travia, produced within two months of each other and written, it would appear, and ‘opera, writen in an incredibly short space of time, geevr uy ‘Betenannecoterpet oftheir ne eth peak he ame langnge of mclody imate in the other. I Del Cagis Indio VeVi (Rome, 1941). nsTHE OPERAS OF VERDI Nowhere elieare we permitted 2 glimpse of Ducttine in which there will be 2 phrase which is repeated inthe aria {ci love him? [who have never loved Andantino fllows. ‘But what am I dreaming of? Am | made for lo life... drown myselfin plese. lepible] 1 mst enjoy lapse into the original key: an unusual touch, ‘anabili, having won into the major key relative or tonic, were expected (0 stay PPOs 6 there, and not inappropriate to one who sees 2 ray of hope gradually extinguished ong? le mbiguous here, it would veem thateven then the‘THE OPERAS OF VERDI the soprano aria and not the preceeding duett com a comparison ofsketch with finished produ and direcenet of expression which isthe hallmatk of the opera as a whole, The he same in exch case; but the final realization is purged of all rmelismata towards the end of Ex. 6, however beautifil in esse in a purel bated line that sets the words ‘crooee dena’ in high relief so that their La Travia pianissimo final cadence. Like that of I Mamadier the prelude to La Trovac is an {independent musical statement, 2 miniature suficiently complete in itself to bear being performed out of ACT Seen A salon in Violet's house, tthe back there is door leading to ‘nother room: there are two ether lateral door, On the le surmounted bye mitor. nthe mile ‘Dumnas's play. Bu guests can only speak as individuals and are therefore limited ‘The opening music, confined at frst to woodwind and bras, isa brash variant ofthat, theme frst encountered inthe overture ro Obert: 6B Alegre teitantinime mols vrace xe ttt id p44 ¢ pee = Jimbing figure strikingly bbut here with an efect of ‘octave = semiquaver lod, here entrusted to fst viol the eatler opera was merely a routine device giving added interes to 2 restatement here conve * For hereon of thi milo to De ne ed ry when restated by an ce of tring (vil, 2 group of guts ine and Viet goes met anos pty given bye: lend Flora Bevo and tas fine and good company ins adds snow elment toe thyse‘THE OPERAS OF VERDI ‘The entrance of one Gaston with his friend Armand Duval is marked by a new stelody in graceful conversational style, che last fous bars attractively foreshortened torthree. Again the scoring is reduced. = with the same melody, whose kernel s that eap ofa sath from dominant co mediant which Verdi used to exees in Eman, Here paradoxically by insisting top line, Gaston confides to Violeta that when she was ill two ye ‘ame to her house every day to ak after her. "You were ima glass of wine. The. pure Piave and along way from Dumas, Violeta compares hetelf to Hebe redo gallantly wises her the godies's immortal youth (Gitseppina Strepponi used to wax 5 130 PSE ea heron different plane from susie ells us more than the words whic that Alfredo shoald be ses, What could be more sbrard than in hymn to pleasure? should have by now have relied why inan opera ofthis period he cox without willnote to the more sordid apects of the scene, alread up fom an adjoining room, much to the surprise ofthe guess. to be dancing, Violets leads the way, then twice has to stop overcome by a feling of faintness; she sinks down on to a couch, and tlle the ‘anxious guests to go in without her; che anew ability to organize I constructed movement, But the banda is always the good dramatic use; and the nexe scene unfolds the play they dance a po ofall her guests Aled isleading, which will certainlyTHE OPERAS OF VERDI be putoff. The bands music ceases as Alfiedo solemnly declares re (Und felice La TRAVIATA In this melody with its intimate expression, ite narrow inte delivery in which every extension is accompanied by verb s becomes fully appar: id expresion of Ali semi-quaver rests in the fi "| which will recut throughout the opers at a symbol of 2 reminiscence motif like ‘Stride la vampa” in If precedent in the tong ‘Chi i bei alin version of lfredo stubbornly continues his ode to tobe rewarded by a tenderly expresive melis ‘The cadenza, however, neatly preserves the contrast between the two characters ‘Armand continuing his steadfast semiquavers, Violeta her tripping coloratura, ae The banda intrudes again the second of its melodies, an episodic theme which secves to emind us that it as been playing all the time and thatthe cantabile has television terms, a cutaway shot. The intensity of the preceding scene has from our conscioumnes. Bur now the tension ie lowered by Gaston, ddance-music coda during cof each bar to give an extra lif tothe shythm and a the same time to mack Alfedo's joy. Atlas he kisses her hand and leaves, The guess come pouring in eo a stetta based on the shythmn of Exs. 69 and 7o ssing rather mechar crescendo toa fortssimo cadence followed by a brie play-ou leave. pl act which has no pat in the operatic scheme. Marguerite is already making plan to ‘escape with Armand tothe country. ‘Who would have told me eight days ago that this man whose exist suspected would fil my heart and my thought so much and so qu love me? Or do I only know that [love him — I who have never loved anyone? ‘Buc why sacrifice a joy? Why not abandon oneself to the whims ofthe heart? ‘Who am I? A creature of chance. Then let chance do with me ait pleases seems tome that 2m happier now than I have ever been. Perhaps thie ‘omen, We women always imagine that we will be loved, never that we shall in love ourselves, so thatthe fist assault of this unforeseen trouble we do not know where we are." BarDumas’s Marguerite takes the iniative, ats with he eyes open, Verdi's Violets ced without knowing it She refuses to acknowledge het love even to henelf yet she ends by obeying it, This i surely = far subler stroke of peyehology than * Duma La Dane scan Ti 33‘THE OPERAS OF VERDI comespondence, 752 pndante eS SS 2 Tom bon eigen BS pew & z SS SS = oe Neti Od & Cee oe eS] Rope Wik mage mae ROBERT EOI section he must needs pass on to another idea for fear that the audience should ‘become bored. Verdi is no afraid to ‘the heat’ torment and delight’, Finally ~ unthinkable in Meyerbeer repeats the whole melody again in a second verse, with Alffedo’s words repented 3 refrain for Ex. 736. The movements therefore sritly in couple form (another instance of Verdi's French lesions taking effect) though most of us have yet and expresing well enough the febrile gaiety thet roine, Note the fant suggestion of a Chopin walt in the i fourth bar. fan expanded and improved o's intervention is no lest brilliant a theatzial stroke for having been ated by Mercadante in an unpublished version of Il Reggene given in Trieste vember 1843. Here too the fenor is urging th still dubious heroine to yield to‘THE OPERAS OF VERDI acta ‘Scene 1: A country house near Pais. A rom on ground level. At the back sand go opera. Marguerite has taken upon her ight. Armand, who! des Grieux, spending money which his thy lover. Yet infact this is exactly Marguerite rotector, the Comte de Giray, andl asks him fo pat even before the wornan I love, The Giray entered... . Forgive me my one both forget that we have ever known eac Ivesto be in love, When you receive this cof course he had not: he was atthe house uetit's fat friend Prudence. Alice along dialogue the lovers are reconciled, Marguerite hss na longer ° any thoughts of raising fands fiom the Bacon or ffom anyone else, But che result 1 motifexpresive of both his hap absence, Alffedo enters ‘in hunting costume” 2s many of the early cantabili bur far more compressed. The narrower melodic intervals areal typical ofthe operas distin (E677, who metronome mark in the procedure whereby the lower instruments would be plucked and the higher bowed. Most conductors, To ongst simply refised to believe it, and have turned the indications upside down, smote scrupulous ly the entire accompaniment pizzicato; yet neither the 1914 score nor the autograph leaves any room for doubt. Certainly the bowed quavers ean sound ugly unless played with delicacy; but the piezieat semiquavers are surely vital to the movement's character which lie in the contrat between the serenity ofthe ‘oice and the restlessness ofthe orchestca, The ‘youthfal ardour’ of most Alftedos is 136 1A TRAVIATA still simmering; and rapid pizzicetican strate boiling water very effectively as we ‘know ftom the bath scene of fe an Opera. urbed. She has been to Pars to excitement 25 Alfedo prepares to set out for Pat protest his chagrin in a eabaleta ("Ob mio rimori nor key ritoeello i gives Alfredo a touch of the heroic for which most tenors of the day wold have been grateful‘THE OPERAS OF VERDI by ts context or its verbal content as hap ached by a false coup de thine, and above ll it cases bridge the gap to will probably prefer the fault to the emedy, esp impressive if well sung. gentleman is outside and wi vl casual announcement the second act, dramatically speaking, may be ssid to begin. The long duct between Violeta and Alfredos father is the core of the ‘opera. Of the various elliptical movements of which it is made up each corresponds to a speech of Dumas's. As usual th (Germont) does not calm and notexaggerats.... You are isnothing more than the fatigue quite happy to Maugham's The Cte ofthe eld age: and who have cessed to love each other. Marg way out In the opera Germont introduces himtelf without ceremony at the father of ‘house, and will nt allow htm to insult her, Hee dignity takes him aba LA TRAVIATA ROK Madenigae Sete rybbbbhbd | + same... this luxury, hese furnishings... Vi ing that she has already sold most of her poses nething fine and noble abou fredo's sake alone. ‘begins. In the prev 1e most offhand declamatory when rom pure rectative through arioso toset piece it geared perfecly the growing sympathy berween Violetta and Germont. The curt exchanges atthe che itenay‘Dramaand the key of nor in a Ths sles oavincng ot fr Fs he Ky of Violet ‘le ie een gnfiance to Vers ope‘THE OPERAS OF VERDI Gerront is completely won over; and the conversation takes on a new warmth, But sfc, saying in vazius differen ways, ‘Do something!” and he replying lean’ inte and ast does othe ewo characters take on & ‘experience and from the greater poi era solves nothing, caries the dramatic: the drama, a produce a tremendous effect and you would agree that i. rewritten a regards idea, and superior inform and feling.”* The A. Allegro moderato, A lt mejor 4/4 (Pure scome un angele), 26 bars Germont talks of his young daughter, hose marriage to the rman she loves ned by her brother's notorious liaison, BT Violetes imagines that she need only part from Alfredo until after his sier's ‘marriage, Germont insist that she must give im up ever nar 6/8 ("Nom sapete quale off Violeta protests that she would die rather chan leave Alfres rs, Fino/D at mai 3/4 (Slo sie one's be no longer young and allowed his affections to stay, Their love they can have no legitimate children; and for a lifetime, blessed by therefore nothing to hol Vila flats on th hope he asks. fa * Leer toDeSanetiy 173.185, Catg! Vea p. 39-36 149 F. Andantino, E fet major 6/8 (‘Dit alla govine’), 36 bars Violets, resigned, aks Germont to tell Alfzedo's Young sister how for her sake an uunforcanate woman sacrifices her only dream of happiness. Germont praises her generosity and bids her take courage. E fat minor E minor ~G minor 30 bars ing thepiton not believe her ifshe goes away efass to reveal to Germont, since he would feel it vy to fr By the evening he will ced his father's comfort. ‘Morn, emia memoria), 81 bars sad Germont will tll Alfredo that she ber. red of three quatrang, the ls of which forms an extended pleading 3 the fist two verses were set to the same music; in the revision wasahered by avers pnt’ which noo eve olowerit ial te eee for the soon ractcaly bold te loti climax "s pasageffom cages trepidation £0 ‘af er nected bo inthe yea lie and thew in Cae breaks ot in cor with rat cha B “The fall expresion of her feelings, however, is reserved for its major complement ; 'f apietato’). In 1853 this took the form of a wild soaring and took the so (oa high C ate reminivence of 'Semp tly beter, with the voice remaining on E while ner chromatic line sugges sion with ppeoptne quotaon fhe eigia a the Proce of te Roel Masi Ast‘THE OPERAS OF VERDI LA TRAVIATA harmony and i vera repeated rhythmic motif, and already noted i suggest the haramering home of a bitter truth, cad of B makes not the ight. improvements are purely lc iy onhodorduescantbile doin the melody is one that could only have come fom After the final melting cadence with its characteristic harmonic twist we reap another advantage from the lower key. The following dialogue hed remai from the word imponee! “Qual fia iy does the 2 favourite work of Verdi’s sudent day lt scheme however which pres eae ee whereby late reprise ofthe second idea, which ino fragments by i roic’ (Bx. 86)-+ only to Violeta, is broken se ofthe faneral march in prominent; the plight (Ex. 7) * The aii with he voc cor of Tvs mt fen ave wondered wy nthe couse of {854 ths moremere wa ered by te cmision sageaio sack dl von amor’ [iced fl core, p17) Baving Ben nally repeated| place only inthe last wo. Vint babble about throwing heal athe te pesling for his hey ean be happy. .. .Ne an, hhas adopted the German practice tinieting ofthe emphasis needed. Violetta tears herself from Alfredo’s embrace and rushes out into garden Of growing tensions maintained for forty bas. The eal exesend takes Aso SSS = 4 “Fs ane ease ee = =a a eee Se ‘At this point Dumas sings down the curtain. Verdi and Piave, however, have a principal baritone ‘hands who mu be accommodated at some full aria; and where better than here? The andante ‘Di Provenea il mar, il sul ‘which Germont comforts his on with choughts of home consists of two musically 46 | 147‘THE OPERAS OF VERDI identical seroph hich proceed in mall 'conjugations’ of uch of Gei ‘This combined with the wood though the seeawing strings may a ‘an evocation of nstalgi through ec 8S Andante piston mone WPA ye BH oe La TRAVIATA OF da ord nce) ada reason no doubt why Varesi found it not to his taste. Verdi may have been te finest cantabile for baritone predominance that informs the score a a whole.” "The same could be said ofthe cabaleta ‘Not Alfredo’: refusal to be comforted, Bi keep Varesina ion for point where Alfiedo catches sight of Flor’s leer, ‘Violeta has gone to her party and rushes off in puss ses quite correctly that "The unas vrs scheme, biden oor one, wera by Ved i aes to Ghilaeon about he vein of Al, The male, be id “weal be es beable the bes vere shot Later 9 Ghinaoe 168.170, Copia, pp 509-0. 148 Veo ia-u es - they have heard the latest news. Violeta an * ta Dune ae candi, p17 lredo are no longer 9yuotation from Aesop. The second piece in sung by Gaston and his fiiends who enter illo the great matador who slew Doctor andthe Margi do, the gipies besting their tambour angle, al hey provide a dramatic faleo what rent bars marks the entrance of Aled, whic genral supton, Vokes it xpeted but noe he. However, he appear quite Scnctalane whe ber same is mentioned: and everyone, lieve, sis down to + gine cans “The ofcesia now develop ‘ction theme be to the dhufing and dealing of cards and the punting, bus he low cleeric atmosphere that cof the ensuing: each time ina typical \Verdian gradation, a the begs God to take pity on her, As the one canabile passage the movement it not only provides just the right contrast to Ex. 9 it enables the icken Violets to dominate the scene with only a few words.* 92 MOLSTE ah Meanwhile Alfredo is consistently winning. ‘Lucky at cards— unlucky in love, he Soon, he sayr, he will have enough money to return to the jah the wroraan who recently ran away from me." lave; but she cannot prevent him from ‘Again Alfredo winsy but while chey are wnounced, He promises the Bacon his revenge later, and Ex. 91 flores and clarinets. gone into supper when Violett returns alone, her agitation, portrayed in five perilous bats of rapid violin semiguavers. She has sent a message t0 [Aledo asking him for a word in privae, Will be come? He had looked at her with .g0. He does come however; and ‘hythm varied by outbursts of became she wants him to leave at once; the Baron wi ing her protector? hey find musical expresion in the ve but on one eying ies away on incessant ‘death figure condition — that Violeta goes with him. Bu he pee youtove hin? Tove bmn Beside hie wth ary Aled gosto the dor ofthe Sppet oom and callin the eter ges ‘Do youtknow ths woman heeies."Do Sas know what she has done? (cellos daskes te outline of admins veventh arse) 2nd Aledo deroures her in 2 he form ofa on “The semigaaver visi igurcon beginning t Michlamasesan ado of 854 snthe mood of each principal i beaut their lines ~ Germont’s reproachf caught in the contour and articulation of 7 Alfredo's shame and confusion, Vielets's pao: ad ers meloy tthe major diurbed ony eviceby 938 inthe second ba and « Neapelcn sth at Ser igh A fat, [is an outstanding exam ‘A month has elapsed since the lover separation, Arm tack ro Tours where he hat 1 ted in vain to recover hs pac ean while has plunged deeper at ot the Comte de Gray of the DE damaging than Eenest ‘Newman te iconoclast would have us believe. Words describe an emotion; asic conveys it directly, In an opera we da not aced to know at much asin spoken play In this number the divergence berween the sores of 1854 has so far been confined to the lowering ofthe occasional note for both Violeta and Germont; but now the gap widens considerably. Not only does Violeta’s Ex. 93c have simpler cadential phrase than previously, burthe final melodic idea ofthe concertato, begun fnunison, ws ently, Inthe definitive th Aledo just. ‘more periodic flow. To inl ceunmot recognize his son in the man who has done this} ‘emore in an atde of broken triplet semiguavers Engh ranation by EJ. Det goes seouly weong "You ironically she very page he slay bean eeproducd ifs in ‘woud be lcepbl cfc Shed oy te cm hed bythe Testo I ence. Yesenevr sek single snything be ad heard dig the everng 52 153 seopomme took f Titcese moneLA TRAVIATA‘THE OPERAS OF VEROI through the floor. Perhaps too sey had been 9 ontining ‘becomes an expression of genetic emotion, the kind of lyrical jon such at onc expects towardi the end of a concertat, Again the new ion has the virtue of greater brevity, always an important consideration where ‘Verdi was concerned. Ex, 67 again atsigned to 16 vi ing by her bekide, fibegeee Chopin nocturne, The clim: coda fll of descending semitone ‘laments’ esed off the beat. In the last four bars the fies violins decrease in strength ‘two ate left on the final tailed C. “Throughout the string writing fas a raced portent habit of underpinning important mod ‘chords Bur then notice how sensitive that pare of wind has become = no longer a 156 and bassoons but a blend of five separate single pening scene owes much pattern of sighs and gasps b rvotk to a scene of recitative. The chef diferen aboutus “When be has left Violeta asks Annina to see how much money they have jo has gone abroad... T have let him know of your great "He will come back and ask for your forgiveness. I shall come too. Take care of your health ... You deserve a better future the conve e y ing re Hollywood has since done to deah, but which here has all the eeshnes of surprise. ‘The ln phrave breaks off Violeta comes tothe name Giorgio Germont. Then ined seventh chord (sings, Jow clarinets, basoons and hor Know that for me all hope is dead . farewell to past dreams of bppines with apathetic cboe to open and close the two strophes ard to link their respective major and rinor sections. Yet strangely enough row rather then the joy thatthe music remembers. The minor opening ies the-hopelesmess of her postion. The major follows was in 1853 an entirely new melody though evalved preceding, Due othe revision ofthe duer in 18s4 itnow becomes remmniscence of Ex, 83, transfigured by the serenity of Violeca’s resignation, Whether or not Verdi had ths effect im mind when he revised the duet, it w le th ‘The fire and second violins reduced to eight apiece, chord leaving a gap of two octaves anda third be‘THE OPERAS OF VERDI 96a [Andante mono ‘Wor Malate ene de pas MM do— A pe dominant prepacation which Verdi had useTHE OPERAS OF VERDE which the frst violin are agsin divided into four with only eight om the top two nd ina pase rere er to ealth noching ca prevent her fiom dying 99 ‘ones! _ es & SS —_ ee wm am mtn mt ela 2. = —_—— —— ———== ——= == accents, phrasing and melodi sian patter,” 100 mee LA TRaviara 0 la Fenice contain an album or Starmbuch belonging to opening phrase of Bx, 100 key in which i was originally sung. Again we have rnastely alterations whereby Verdi improved the there Aledo is bringing the next four bars ‘emphasis for a harmonic prog: Ihad done in section Bin the soprano/baritone ‘oturns sung by Vi lfedo sustaining a purely harmonic lap once more ina coda based on a new idea ewice repeated. As To take a banal in erder to stop at 61‘THE OPERAS OF VERDI a station, were atthe last moment to accelerate past it. The broadening effect ofthe point. The solution generally adopted is to make a cut red's vere to the beginning ofthe coda (pi mas) or, more ished seventh atthe coda's fifth ba. The dramatie pace is sacrifice of some fine mosic. im Germont, now ready to chim Violeta ss his daughter. She greet hime weakly; and ashe locks ther, forthe fr time and only Sime inthe opera he betrays strong emotion: 102 — ed he E Six: Pa eee ae ‘sheep La TRAVIATA 103 Andante sortenuto / = 36 ‘OLE (up S355 starts with the instrumental device found figure rapped out pianissimo by the fll seigh up on eight violins and two. ecasion.* (Asalways, the weaker 1 ivan athe Fodasione Cine, Venice, Welfgang Ontos poieted cu hatin ‘coer page ws writen oot higher, ff lythan inthe previ jee remains almost ‘then tes with the orchestra to fortsimo climax at which she falls back senseless. The othess exclaim in hor [Alfedo exis out her name; the doctor after feeling her pulse announces that she ead; and the curtain falls to the usual succession of fortstimo chords. expresionlss, low in her A copy of the libretto cathedral exist in the tun tripadio’. Even the objective and worl Ex, 74an image of"base love’, so [Artaro’r ‘A te 0 cara’ from I Part the first London performance in 1856 hen, spoke of its foul and hideous ho ld be given in concert form at Exeter Hall inthe company of ‘without a voice being raised in protest. In any case the public‘THE OPERAS OF VERDI England Le Travia soon exceeded othe toprano Marietts Piccolomini who speciality at both the Haymarket and Covent Gueden. erformance in France was given in pirated material at che Théttre des é ‘manager of the Théite Lyrique, her to mount 2 French version in a mn by Edouard Dupre, brother of the singer. What Verdi's part, ifm the proceedings was we cannot be sure; but the oper ‘encouraged him to prepare «revived Mebeh forthe same theat many of the names ate altered for no very obvi success in this form akzogethes wih kyo whch Roepe reudnd it fils 19 provide 2 strong postion for the the advocacy of Francis Toyet i i unlikely to be revived ‘couldn't judge he form La 3 qualiviestoshine in chat opera and reacts sige de. Ver Paty Beno 14) p14 een to Vigna atthe time. Indeed the heroine of ied the opera to glory never achieved stardom. One ofthe great asets of La Traviata thet while inevitably atwacting the grea it can make is effec with good aise of the econdeeanke [At no time doet Verdi seem to have reverted to 4, Maria Spezia, who to every operargcer.'t Up to 1914 all printed scores continued ication Paris and is environs about 1700", However, even ithe had had his way in ede sing would have cmd purely met since the oct not music drama; and the felingst portrays a "day La Traviata is without question the most widely loved opera inthe Ve canon (indeed a poll taken in Iealy some years ago showed itto be the most popular in the entre repertoire), Any lingering imperfections inthe style can be trace expecially the solo variety problem but ean never fl cto pas ove taken up by Loaldig and filly embodied ina fature film his opera Verdi was portraying himsel nl Gineppina Stepponi. The supposed indications a 4 lewer riven by Verdi to the singer was any’ Paris and wrotearievance a it eranspces from Verdi's fous letter seems to have been that Verdi ‘was no longer taking him into his confidence hypochondria be compared with Violeta’s mi rminor detail the her himself by poreraying her 2.2 ine his blind fury ifthe idea were put to him. 5 LES VEPRES SICILIENNES