Verdi’s Librettist
Verdi collaborated with Francesco Maria Piave more than with any other librettist; together, they created 10 operas: Ernani (1844), I due Foscari (1844), Attila (completing a libretto started by Temistocle Solera, 1846), Macbeth (with Andrea Maffei, 1847), Il Corsaro (1848), Stiffelio (1850), Rigoletto (1851), La traviata (1853),Simon Boccanegra (1857) and La forza del destino (1862). Piave also wrote extensively for other composers of the stage, among them Giovanni Pacini and Saverio Mercadante. It is generally accepted that the librettos he wrote for Verdi were his best, perhaps because the composer took such an active role in their creation.
Born in the glass-making center of Murano near Venice in 1810, Piave started his literary career as a proof-reader. After a brief sojourn in Rome where he encountered Jacopo Ferretti, who wrote the libretto for Rossini’s La Cenerentola, he returned to Venice where he eventually became poet at the Teatro La Fenice. Because the librettist did not have much experience when Verdi met him, the composer had little faith in his work and began to browbeat him, insisting on having verses written his way. And Piave always obeyed, sensing the brilliance in the man with whom he was paired. Their relationship developed into a deep friendship, and when Piave suffered a stroke at the end of his career, Verdi came to his aid by helping to support the librettist’s family.
Certainly Piave’s work with Verdi on the librettos of Stiffelio and Rigoletto informed him about the character development the composer would want for La traviata. These three librettos provide singers with characters that test their acting ability as well as their voices. A truly fine production of La traviata is one in which the drama is respected as much as the score.
The Characters
Violetta Valéry, a demimondaine, soprano
Alfredo Germont, tenor
Giorgio Germont, Alfredo’s father, baritone
Flora Bervoix, Violetta’s friend, mezzo-soprano
Annina, Violetta’s maid, soprano
Gastone, Viscount of Letorières, Alfredo’s friend, tenor
Baron Douphol, Violetta’s protector, baritone
Marchese D’Obigny, Flora’s friend, bass
Doctor Grenvil, bass
Giuseppe, Violetta’s servant, tenor
Flora’s servant, bass
Commissioner, bass
Ladies and gentlemen, friends of Violetta and Flora, matadors, picadors, gypsies, servants, etc.
Today, La traviata is generally set in 19th-century Paris and its countryside, following Verdi’s original wishes. Because of its subject matter - the story of a courtesan and her lover — the censors in Venice ordered that the tale be removed as far as possible from their own times. Hardly a woman of virtue, Violetta nevertheless proves that she is a woman of character, so because she wins the audience’s sympathies, censors opted for setting the story in the 18th century — less chance she might appear to be a role model for contemporary women!
