Considered one of Giuseppe Verdi’s foundational works, the three act tragic opera La Traviata has its source in the life story of Marie Duplessis, a high class courtesan who passed away in 1847 at age 23 from consumption. Among the Parisian’s well known romantic partners were the composer Franz Liszt and the author Alexandre Dumas, who subsequently penned the roman à clef La Dame Aux Camélias based on their relationship.
In 1852, a dramatic adaptation of Dumas’ novel hit the Vaudeville stage and it is thought that it was here that Verdi, in the company of singer Giuseppina Strepponi, first encountered a story that transfixed and inspired him. The brief life of Marie Duplessis was reimagined as the character of Violetta Valéry in La Traviata, with the operatic composer claiming that it was his work that finally transformed her life "into art."