Heavily censored at its 1853 premiere, Verdi’s impassioned portrait of a celebrated courtesan in the last months of her life remains one of the most powerful stories of nineteenth century Paris, decadence, disease and selfless love.

In startling contrast to the ghostly atmospherics of Lucia di Lammermoor, Verdi’s 1853 portrait of a celebrated courtesan in love with a callow youth from a provincial bourgeois family is as unflinching in its examination of the decadence of the Parisian demimonde as a novel by Zola. As Violetta Valéry navigates the last months of her life, she must choose between hedonism and self-sacrifice, escaping then returning to the city that made her and will eventually destroy her. Sumptuously designed by Cordelia Chisholm, with reference to the scandalous paintings of Gustave Courbet and John Singer Sargent, and described as “world class” in The Stage and “dazzling” in The Guardian, Rodula Gaitanou’s exceptional 2018 production of La traviata returns to Holland Park with an outstanding cast.

Creative

Conductor - Matthew Kofi Waldren
Director - Rodula Gaitanou
Designer - Cordelia Chisholm
Choreographer - Steve Elias
Chorus Master - Richard Harker
Lighting Designer - Simon Corder
Associate Conductor (conducting on 27 July) - Aleksandra Melaniuk
Assistant Choreographer - Sophia Priolo

Cast

Violetta - Alison Langer
Alfredo - Matteo Desole
Giorgio Germont - Michel de Souza
Annina - Ellie Edmonds
Gastone - Zwakele Tshabalala
Barone Douphol - Nicholas Garrett
Flora Bervoix - Laura Woods
Marchese d'Obigny - Chuma Sijeqa
Dottore Grenvil - Henry Grant Kerswell