La Dame aux Camélias 1878 "Scribner's Monthly" reported that "not one other play by Dumas, "fils" has been received with favor out of France". The success of the play inspired Giuseppe Verdi to put the story to music. His work became the 1853 opera "La traviata", set to an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave. The female protagonist, Marguerite Gautier, is renamed Violetta Valéry. "La Dame aux Camélias" has been adapted for some 20 different motion pictures in numerous countries and in a wide variety of languages. The role of Marguerite Gautier has been played on screen by Sarah Bernhardt, María Félix, Clara Kimball
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