The last of the three great operas of Giuseppe Verdi's middle period, La Traviata is now one of his most popular works. Written for the Teatro la Fenice in Venice, it was first heard on March 6, 1853. The libretto, by Francesco Maria Piave, details the ill-fated love affair between a young gentleman named Alfredo Germont and a terminally ill courtesan named Violetta. It is based on the play La dame aux camélias by Alexander Dumas, Jr., which premiered the previous year.
