Verdi originally titled the opera, ‘Amore e Morte’ - I have sought to explore the interplay between these two tectonic forces in my staging. The first occurrence of the word ‘love’ is in Alfredo’s toast. Violetta flippantly throws around words to keep the party going; festa, diletto, letizia, piacere, voluttà, gioia – but it is Alfredo, with his promise of a love that transcends the universe, who stops her in her tracks. Ironically, this wild courtesan, baptised in champagne and devoted to a wild and free life, is the only character who can offer pure and selfless love.

An opera of this scale in this arena runs the risk of falling into spectacle for spectacle’s sake. But it is within this genre we are able to capture the dizzying and extravagant universe of this courtesan.  Marie Duplessis, even when she was visibly feverish and ill, was known for her wild dancing prowess. She was once imagined saying, “it’s not me who is dancing too fast, it’s the violins that play too slowly.”