In most of the productions of “La Traviata”, it can be said that from the very beginning of its history, the acute point of social and moral denunciation inherent in the story of Marié Duplessis, then Marguerite Gautier in La dama delle camelie, later Violetta Valéry, was deliberately removed. Verdi himself had had forebodings to this effect and he gave in on this very important aspect by moving the entire story to the 18th century, in the hope that the distance in time would make the subject of the opera, which seared with its blistering contemporaneity, acceptable to the public, just as Dumas wanted.

 
“La Traviata” was too “close”. Even setting the story in the right era, in 1850 or a little later, as is now common practice, does not change the perspective due to the fact that La Traviata remains an opera in period costume and not, as it was originally conceived, an opera in contemporary costumes. The historical distance remains in any case, hindering any possible actualization of the facts and problems that represent the scenario.

Another crucial issue is that there is nothing left of what Dumas characterized with the expression “Demi-monde” or speaking of Violetta’s salon: “Ce cloaque spendide”. What is usually seen is a bonbon confection of costumes and settings in which an almost abstract love story unfolds. Instead, it is very important to understand that Violetta is “a whore”, as Giuseppe Verdi himself clearly and literally stated.

(Henning Brockaus)