From Giuseppe Verdi's epistolary, perhaps the best-known letter is the one he sent to a friend the day after the premiere of La Traviata, on March 6, 1853. In it, he expressed his surprise at the ungrateful reception. At the same time, he was confident – he was forty and famous and was living comfortably – that time would resolve the doubts: "La Traviata, last night, a failure. Will the fault be mine or the singers'? Time will tell". Time gave its verdict and proved Verdi right: throughout the twentieth century and so far in the twenty-first, the work has remained at the top of the most performed operas in the world.
The initial rejection It is true that the prima donna chosen, or rather, the prima donna that the Teatro La Fenice of Venice imposed for the role of Violetta, was somewhat overweight to play a young woman suffering from a disease that visibly weakens her.
Fanny Salvino-Donatelli, the first Violeta
As if that were not enough, the soprano, Fanny Salvino-Donatelli, was no longer so young, around 38 years old. But, apparently, the audience's rejection was not directed exclusively or preferentially to her but to the tenor and the baritone on which the second act rest (too little rehearsal perhaps), because it was only then that the boos and laughter began.
Indeed, during the overture and the entire first act, the audience listened respectfully, attentively and with pleasure. And since Violeta's involvement in Act I is outstanding, it must be concluded that history has been unfair to the excellent singer who was the soprano Salvino-Donatelli, even if the opportunity caught her somewhat stout and she were no longer so young.
Overture, or Prelude to Act I
As is known, the work is based on a theatrical adaptation of the novel by Alexandre Dumas junior, La Dame aux Camélias.
In the prelude or overture, Verdi made use of Dumas' narrative resources by musically telling the story from the end, as Dumas does in his novel. Thus, the overture begins with the theme of Violetta's agony, sad and melancholic, which, however, gives rise to a surprising link with the festive and joyful theme that will accompany the party held at Violetta's house, the revelry portrayed in the image at the head of this article.
The performance is by the Milan Symphony Orchestra "Giuseppe Verdi", led by the Chinese-American conductor Xian Zhang.
