A tale of lost love: Popular "Traviata" returns to the Utah Opera stage

Since its premiere in 1853 in Teatro La Fenice in Venice, Giuseppe Verdi's "La Traviata" has been a staple in opera houses around the world. Hardly a season goes by without the work appearing somewhere, whether in a major or regional opera house or in a college production.

Local opera lovers will get the opportunity to see "La Traviata" again when it returns to Utah Opera starting next Saturday for a five-performance run in the Capitol Theatre.

It's easy to understand why "La Traviata" is so popular. It has universal appeal. The story is timeless. Without the emotional excess of Puccini, librettist Francesco Maria Piave, who supplied Verdi with the librettos of some of his most famous works, created a moving love story.

When the opera opens, Violetta is throwing a lavish party at her Paris home. As one of the city's celebrated courtesans, she's become accustomed to a luxurious lifestyle. She dreams of finding true love, however, yet scoffs at the notion. But when Alfredo arrives at her party and eventually professes his love for her, she muses whether he is the one with whom she can find happiness. She renounces her former life and leaves Paris with Alfredo for a simple life in the country.

Their idyll is short lived. Giorgio Germont, Alfredo's father, arrives at their home when Alfredo is out and convinces Violetta that their scandalous affair is ruining his daughter's chances of finding a husband. Reluctantly, Violetta agrees to Germont's demands and returns to Paris. When Alfredo returns and discovers Violetta has left and then finds a letter from one of her old Parisian friends, he assumes the worst and sets out to Paris to confront her.

In Paris, he finds her at a party and believes her to have returned to her old life. He insults her by flinging money at her feet and rushes out the door.

In the final scene, several months have elapsed. Violetta is on her deathbed. Germont has come begging for forgiveness. Alfredo then appears and he and Violetta are reunited, but only briefly, as she dies in his arms.

"There is a lot of depth to the story," said stage director Pamela Berlin, "and the characters are complex. Everything is in the music and, to some extent, in the libretto."

Conductor William Lacey agrees. "It's a very descriptive and detailed piece of music. The musical sophistication is incredible." That makes the stage director's job all that easier, Berlin said. One might think a well-known work such as "La Traviata" would be difficult to stage, but that's not the case. "You come to it really fresh with your own ideas," she said, "and you let yourself be enveloped by that gorgeous music."