La traviata La traviata La traviata (, "The Fallen Woman") is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi set to an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave. It is based on "La Dame aux Camélias" (1852), a play adapted from the novel by Alexandre Dumas "fils". The opera was originally titled "Violetta", after the main character. It was first performed on 6 March 1853 at the La Fenice opera house in Venice. Piave and Verdi wanted to follow Dumas in giving the opera a contemporary setting, but the authorities at La Fenice insisted that it be set in the past, "c.
Sarah Bernhardt Sarah Bernhardt Sarah Bernhardt (; born Henriette-Rosine Bernard, 22 or 23 October 1844 – 26 March 1923) was a French stage actress who starred in some of the most popular French plays of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, including "La Dame Aux Camelias" by Alexandre Dumas, "fils", "Ruy Blas" by Victor Hugo, "Fédora" and "La Tosca" by Victorien Sardou, and "L'Aiglon" by Edmond Rostand. She also played male roles, including Shakespeare's Hamlet. Rostand called her "the queen of the pose and the princess of the gesture", while Hugo praised her "golden voice". She made several theatrical tours around