Marguerite and Armand Marguerite and Armand Marguerite and Armand is a ballet danced to an orchestral arrangement of Franz Liszt's B minor piano sonata. It was created in 1963 by the British choreographer Sir Frederick Ashton specifically for Rudolf Nureyev and Margot Fonteyn. The ballet takes its inspiration from the 19th-century novel "La Dame aux Camélias" by Alexandre Dumas, "fils", and other adaptations of the same story such as Giuseppe Verdi's opera "La traviata". Marguerite Gautier, a Parisian courtesan, lies on her deathbed, gravely ill with tuberculosis. In her delirium she recalls her love affair with a young man named Armand, which the
Giuseppe Verdi Milan. The La Scala impresario, Bartolomeo Merelli, agreed to put on "Oberto" (as the reworked opera was now called, with a libretto rewritten by Temistocle Solera) in November 1839. It achieved a respectable 13 additional performances, following which Merelli offered Verdi a contract for three more works. While Verdi was working on his second opera "Un giorno di regno", Margherita died of encephalitis at the age of 26. Verdi adored his wife and children and was devastated by their deaths. "Un giorno", a comedy, was premiered only a few months later. It was a flop and only given the one