Alexandre Dumas fils live with his father. There he met Marie Duplessis, a young courtesan who would be the inspiration for the character Marguerite Gauthier in his romantic novel "La Dame aux camélias" ("The Lady of the Camellias"). Adapted into a play, it was titled "Camille" in English and became the basis for Verdi's 1853 opera, "La traviata", Duplessis undergoing yet another name change, this time to Violetta Valéry. Although he admitted that he had done the adaptation because he needed the money, he had great success with the play, which started his career as a dramatist. He was not only more renowned
Alexandre aux Indes Alexandre aux Indes Alexandre aux Indes ("Alexander in India") is an opera by the French composer Nicolas-Jean Lefroid de Méreaux, first performed at the Académie Royale de Musique (the Paris Opera) on 26 August 1783. It takes the form of a "tragédie lyrique" in three acts. The libretto, by Étienne Morel de Chédeville, concerns Alexander the Great and the Indian king Porus. The plot has similarities with Racine's tragedy "Alexandre le Grand" (1665) and Metastasio's libretto "Alessandro nell'Indie". King Porus is due to marry Axiane when he hears news that Alexander the Great is threatening his kingdom. Hephaestion arrives and