La Dame aux Camélias La Dame aux Camélias La Dame aux Camélias (literally The Lady with the Camellias, commonly known in English as Camille) is a novel by Alexandre Dumas "fils", first published in 1848 and subsequently adapted by Dumas for the stage. "La Dame aux Camélias" premiered at the Théâtre du Vaudeville in Paris, France on February 2, 1852. The play was an instant success, and Giuseppe Verdi immediately set about putting the story to music. His work became the 1853 opera "La traviata", with the female protagonist, Marguerite Gautier, renamed Violetta Valéry. In the English-speaking world, "La Dame aux Camélias" became known
Giuseppe Verdi Senate, but did not participate in its activities. In the months following the staging of "Ballo", Verdi was approached by several opera companies seeking a new work or making offers to stage one of his existing ones, but refused them all. But when, in December 1860, an approach was made from Saint Petersburg's Imperial Theatre, the offer of 60,000 francs plus all expenses was doubtless a strong incentive. Verdi came up with the idea of adapting the 1835 Spanish play "Don Alvaro o la fuerza del sino" by Angel Saavedra, which became "La forza del destino", with Piave writing the