Characters
| Alfredo Germont, lover of Violetta | Tenor |
| Giorgio Germont, his father | Baritone |
| Gastone de Letorières | Tenor |
| Baron Douphol, a rival of Alfredo | Bass |
| Marquis d'Obigny | Bass |
| Doctor Grenvil | Bass |
| Giuseppe, servant to Violetta | Tenor |
| Violetta Valéry, a courtesan | Soprano |
| Flora Bervoix, her friend | Mezzo-Soprano |
| Annina, confidante of Violetta | Soprano |
Ladies and gentlemen who are friends and guests in the houses of Violetta and Flora; servants and masks; dancers and guests as matadors, picadors, and gypsies.
Time—Louis XIV.
Place—Paris and vicinity.
Copyright photo by Mishkin
Galli-Curci as Violetta in “La Traviata”
At its production in Venice in 1853 "La Traviata" was a failure, for which various reasons can be advanced. The younger Dumas's play, "La Dame aux Camélias," familiar to English playgoers under the incorrect title of "Camille," is a study of modern life and played in modern costume. When Piave reduced his "Traviata" libretto from the play, he retained the modern period. This is said to have nonplussed an audience accustomed to operas laid in the past and given in "costume." But the chief blame for the fiasco appears to have rested with the singers. Graziani, the Alfredo, was hoarse. Salvini-Donatelli, the Violetta, was inordinately stout. The result was that the scene of her death as a consumptive was received with derision. Varesi, the baritone, who sang Giorgio Germont, who does not appear until the second act, and is of no importance save in that part of the opera, considered the rôle beneath his reputation—notwithstanding Germont's beautiful solo, "Di Provenza"—and was none too cheerful over it. There is evidence in Verdi's correspondence that the composer had complete confidence in the merits of his score, and attributed its failure to its interpreters.