I will be giving the pre-performance lecture on one of the most popular opera in the canonic repertoire, Verdi’s La traviata! This new production by Shawna Lucey (General Director and CEO of Opera San Jose ) drew enthusiastic reviews with audiences and critics in San Francisco and is now ready to charm opera lovers in Los Angeles. Rachel Willis-Sørensen stars as Violetta, with tenor Liparit Avetisyan as her beloved Alfredo and Kihun Yoon as Father Germont.

I will explore the ideas behind Lucey’s “feminist take” on Traviata, with a look at the woman—Parisian courtesan Marie Duplessis— who inspired the character of Violetta by way of Alexander Dumas fils’ novella and play, The Lady of the Camellias.