From the thrill of unexpected romance to a heart-breaking reconciliation that comes too late – Verdi’s La Traviata is one of the most popular of all operas.

Featuring one of the most poignant, romantic and tragic scores of all time, Verdi’s masterpiece contrasts spectacular party scenes with tender, intimate moments. La Traviata tells the story of the tragic love between the courtesan Violetta and the romantic Alfredo Germont. Played out against the hypocrisy of upper-class fashionable society, Alfredo and Violetta’s love threatens to shame his family. When his father directly appeals to Violetta to relinquish her one chance of happiness, Violetta submits and her act of self-sacrifice leads to her paying the ultimate price.

The opera’s fantastic melodies include the famous Brindisi and the exuberant Sempre Libera – both showing the lyricism of Italian opera at its most immediately appealing.