By Giuseppe Verdi
San Diego Civic Theatre
1100 Third Avenue
San Diego, CA 92101
Season Sponsor
City of San Diego
Lead Production Sponsor
Darlene Marcos Shiley
Artist Sponsors
Robert Kaplan and Marina Baroff for Yves Abel
Veronica and Miguel Leff for Andriana Chuchman
Verdi’s timeless masterpiece transports you to the dazzling world of 19th-century Paris, where Violetta Valéry, a courtesan, falls in love with the young nobleman Alfredo Germont. Despite their passionate affair, societal conventions and family interference threaten their happiness, and Violetta is forced to make a heartbreaking choice.
Tenor Zach Borichevsky will debut with San Diego Opera as Alfredo, having also performed this role with the Seattle Opera and shared his talents with audiences at Opera Philadelphia, Boston Lyric Opera, and other companies around the world. Soprano Andriana Chuchman returns to SDO after making her exciting debut as Micaëla in our 2017 The Tragedy of Carmen. Bass-baritone Hunter Enoch and soprano Erika Nicole Alatorre will also make exciting company debuts with these performances. San Diego Opera’s Principal Conductor Yves Abel returns to lead the San Diego Symphony Orchestra with San Diego favorite Kyle Lang directing.
LANGUAGE – Sung in Italian with English and Spanish text projected above the stage
RUN TIME – Approximately 2 hours and 50 minutes (including two 20 minute intermissions)
The pre-opera talk begins at 6:40 pm before the 7:30 pm Friday and Saturday evening performances. The Sunday matinee pre-opera talk begins at 1:10 pm before the 2:00 pm curtain.
Stay after the Saturday and Sunday performances for a Talk-Back. Once the curtain falls, there will be a 10-minute break, then join us in the front of the Dress Circle section where you can ask questions of the stars and cast (subject to availability), and find out what really happened onstage and backstage during the performance!
Andriana Chuchman
Violetta
Violetta
Company appearances – Micaëla in The Tragedy of Carmen, March 2017
Canadian soprano Andriana Chuchman has earned much acclaim for her performances in a wide range of repertoire including the heroines of Mozart and Handel, 20th Century masterpieces, and the premieres of new operas and orchestral work. This season, she appears in the Dallas Opera’s world premiere of Joby Talbot’s The Diving Bell and Butterfly and makes three important role debuts – Violetta in La Traviata at Opera Omaha, Juliette in Romeo et Juliette at the Lyric Opera of Kansas City, and Donna Anna in Don Giovanni at the Houston Grand Opera. She recently made her role debut as the title role in Alcina with the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra.
Ms. Chuchman has appeared with many prestigious opera companies including the Metropolitan Opera, San Francisco Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Houston Grand Opera, Dallas Opera, Los Angeles Opera, Washington National Opera, Glimmerglass Festival, Opera Omaha, Glyndebourne Festival Tour, Salzburg Witsun Festival and the Hamburg State Opera. In her native Canada, she has appeared with the Canadian Opera Company, Manitoba Opera, and Edmonton Opera. Her many roles include Giulietta in I Capuleti e i Montecchi, Marie in Fille du Regiment, Adina in L’Elisir d’Amore, Cleopatra in Guilio Cesare, Susanna in Le Nozze di Figaro, Gretel in Hansel and Gretel, Valencienne in The Merry Widow, the title role in Orphée et Eurydice, and Lauretta in Gianni Schicchi. She has also received critical acclaim for her performances in many contemporary operas including Mary in Jake Heggie’s It’s a Wonderful Life, Pat Nixon in John Adam’s Nixon in China, Kumdha in John Adam’s A Flowering Tree, Boonyi/India in the world premiere of Jack Perla’s Shalimar the Clown, Magnolia in Show Boat, and Guinevere in Camelot.
In concert, Ms. Chuchman has appeared in Lincoln Center’s White Lights Festival in staged performances of the Pegolesi Stabat Mater, and has also appeared with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Rhode Island Symphony, Orchestra, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, Edmonton Symphony, the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra and at the Cincinnati May and Ravinia festivals.
Born in Winnipeg, Ms. Chuchman received her Bachelor’s Degree in Voice Performance from the School of Music at the University of Manitoba. She is also an alumna of the Ryan Opera Center at the Lyric Opera of Chicago and the San Francisco Opera’s Merola Program. Ms. Chuchman’s awards include the San Francisco Opera’s 2019 Emerging Star of the Year, Opera Theatre of St. Louis’ 2017 Mabel Dorn Reeder Award, and prizewinner at the Finals of the 2009 Neue Stimmen Competition in Germany.
Zach Borichevsky
Alfredo
Alfredo
San Diego Opera debut
Tenor Zach Borichevsky is “equipped with a flexible, bright voice that already has made him one of the most sought-after singers of his generation.” Mr. Borichevsky is known as a “star-level tenor” with a “precise, nuanced high-register singing and agile acting”, paired with a “magical sense of complete spontaneity that comes from being in total command of the instrument.” A series of significant débuts have established Mr. Borichevsky as one of the most thrilling vocal talents to appear on the international stage; he has created widely celebrated international performances in roles such as Rodolfo in La bohème with Finnish National Opera, Romeo in Roméo et Juliette for Teatro Municipal de Santiago in Chile, and Alfredo in La Traviata for the Glyndebourne Festival.
Last season, Borichevsky made two last-minute jump-ins: as Edgardo in Lucia di Lammermoor with Opéra Nice Côte d’Azur and in the title role of Faust for Detroit Opera. Of the latter, OperaWire wrote “Borichevsky revealed himself to be a masterful and technically competent lyric tenor with an innate cut and ring… [he] delighted and captivated the audience with his presence.” In addition, Borichevsky reprised his honed performance of Rodolfo in Nashville Opera’s La bohème, sang Messa di Gloria for Toledo Symphony, performed the Duke in Rigoletto with the Rochester Philharmonic, and returned to Aspen Music Festival for Berlioz’s Requiem. This season,
he joins the Metropolitan Opera to cover Rodolfo in La bohème and Roméo in Roméo et Juliette. Additionally, he takes his Roméo to Toledo Opera and sings Cavaradossi in Tosca with Dayton Opera
Zach recently expanded his repertoire to include Faust, having joined the Lyric Opera of Chicago to cover in their 2022 production, in addition to performing his first Narraboth in Salome with the Spoleto Festival, USA. In that season he also performed Eisenstein in Die Fledermaus for Palm Beach Opera, reprised the role of Alfredo in La Traviata for Opera Grand Rapids, performed Cassio in Washington National Opera’s production of Otello, and Rodolfo in La bohéme with Toledo Opera. In concert, Zach performed the tenor solo in Verdi’s Requiem for the National Philharmonic at the Kennedy Center and recorded a virtual Messiah with New Choral Society.
Mr. Borichevsky has graced opera stages across the globe with performances as Edmondo in Manon Lescaut in his Metropolitan Opera début, Anatol in Vanessa for the Santa Fe Opera, Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly for Teatro Municipal de Santiago in Chile, Rodolfo in La bohème with English National Opera, and Alfredo in La Traviata with the Seattle Opera, to name a few.
Additional performances include Alfredo in La Traviata for Toledo Opera, Edgardo in Lucia di Lammermoor at the Seoul Arts Center, Lensky in Eugene Onegin, Rodolfo in La bohème, and Romeo in Roméo et Juliette all with Arizona Opera, Edgardo in Lucia di Lammermoor with Opera Carolina, Eisenstein in Die Fledermaus for Cincinnati Opera, Tamino in The Magic Flute with Boston Lyric Opera and Jonathan Dale in the East Coast premiere of Kevin Puts’ Silent Night for Opera Philadelphia.
In concert, Mr. Borichevsky has joined the Minnesota Orchestra for Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 under Osmo Vänskä, sang Rachmaninov’s The Bells with the St. Louis Symphony and with the Festival de Radio France et Montpellier under Santtu-Matias Rouvali, sang Handel’s Messiah for the New Choral Society, sang the role of Lazarus in John Adams’ The Gospel According to the Other Mary for the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center and the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra under Markus Stenz, and gave his first performances of The Dream of Gerontius with the Orquesta Sinfónica del Principado de Asturias under Rossen Milanov. Further highlights have included appearances at the Aspen Music Festival for Britten’s Nocturne and Janáček’s Diary of One Who Disappeared, Britten’s War Requiem with the National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra under Lan Shui, and the Chicago Philharmonic for Verdi’s Messa da requiem under Murry Sidlin.
Mr. Borichevsky has been honored with numerous awards from organizations including the George London Foundation, The Metropolitan Opera National Council, Gerda Lissner Foundation, Opera Index, Mario Lanza Foundation, Shreveport Opera and Licia Albanese-Puccini Foundation. Mr. Borichevsky won second prize at the Loren L. Zachary National Vocal Competition for Young Opera Singers and third prize at Plácido Domingo’s Operalia Competition.
Hunter Enoch
Germont
Germont
San Diego Opera debut
Bass-baritone Hunter Enoch, praised by Opera News for his “weighty, dramatic baritone,” continues to garner popular and critical acclaim for his performances. In the 2023-24 season, highlights include his Dallas Symphony debut in Das Rheingold as Donner, a return to Washington National Opera as Gregorio in Roméo et Juliette, a return to Opera Theatre of Saint Louis for Philip Glass’ Galileo Galilei, and the world premiere of Touch, by Carla Lucero and Marianna Mott Newirth, with Opera Birmingham. The 2022-23 season saw several important role and company debuts, including a debut at Opera Theatre of Saint Louis in Tosca as Scarpia. Performances in the 2021-22 season included Scarpia in Tosca for Anchorage Opera, as well as the title role in Le Nozze di Figaro and Palemon in Thais with Maryland Lyric Opera. In the 2019-20 season, Mr. Enoch returned to WNO as Montano in Otello, and sang the role of Kurwenal in Tristan und Isolde with the National Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Gianandrea Noseda at both the Kennedy Center and at Lincoln Center. In the 2018-19 season Mr. Enoch returned to Washington National Opera to sing the role of William Dale in Silent Night, made his company and role debut as Scarpia for Opera Birmingham, and sang Happy in La Fanciulla del West and Raimondo in Lucia di Lammermoor for Maryland Lyric Opera.
Bass-baritone Hunter Enoch joined the Domingo-Cafritz Young Artist program at Washington National Opera in the fall of 2015. During his time with the company, he was heard as Count Almaviva in the Young Artist performance of Le nozze di Figaro, a Corporal in The Daughter of the Regiment, ADC in The Dictator’s Wife, covered Joseph De Rocher in Dead Man Walking, and sang Sharpless in the Young Artist performance of Madame Butterfly. His WNO debut was as Moralés in Carmen and he was later heard as James Miller in the world premiere of Better Gods.
Since departing the WNO Young Artist Program, Mr. Enoch has made significant debuts throughout the United States. In the summer of 2018, he made his Detroit Symphony Orchestra debut as Ping in Turandot, followed by his role debut as the Four Villains in Les contes d’Hoffmann at the Aspen Music Festival. Previously in that season, he was heard as Zuniga in Carmen with Rochester Philharmonic, Escamillo in Carmen with The Washington Chorus at The Kennedy Center, and in Bernstein’s Songfest with National Symphony Orchestra.
In the summer of 2016, Mr. Enoch returned to The Glimmerglass Festival as a guest artist to sing Marcello in La bohème and cover the role of John Proctor in The Crucible, following his festival debut as Sharpless in the Young Artist Performance of Madame Butterfly in 2014. He was a Resident Artist at the Academy of Vocal Arts during the 2014-2015 season where he appeared as Taddeo in L’italiana in Algeri, Marcello, and Valentin in Faust.
Other training includes Seattle Opera’s 2012-2013 Young Artist Program, where he sang Il Cavaliere di Belfiore in Un Giorno di Regno; the Emerging Artist program at Virginia Opera where he sang the roles of Moralès and Wig Maker in Ariadne auf Naxos in 2014; Chautauqua Opera as a Studio Artist in 2012; and the Studio Artist program at Wolf Trap Opera in 2010 and 2011. He earned his Bachelor of Music and Master of Music from University of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music. Mr. Enoch has appeared as a semifinalist in the Metropolitan National Council Auditions and is the recipient of the Sullivan Foundation’s Career Development Award.
Joel Sorensen
Gastone
Gastone
American tenor Joel Sorensen made his San Diego Opera debut as Curley in Of Mice and Men in 1999, returning as Camp Williams in Cold Sassy Tree in 2001, Andres in Wozzeck in 2007, Rodriguez in Don Quixote in 2009 and 2014, Tybalt in Romeo and Juliet in 2010, Pang in Turandot and Valzacchi in Der Rosenkavalier in 2011, 2013 as the First Tempter/First Knight in Murder in the Cathedral and Beppe in Pagliacci, Spoletta in 2016’s Tosca, Dr. Caius in Falstaff in 2017, Pong in Turandot in 2018, the Witch in Hansel and Gretel in 2020, Spoletta in Tosca in 2023, and Goro in Madama Butterfly in 2024.
Most recently, Mr. Sorensen sang Spoletta (Tosca) with San Francisco Opera and Opera San Antonio, Goro (Madama Butterfly) with Nashville Opera and Cedar Rapids Opera Theatre, Beppe (Pagliacci) with Greensboro Opera.
Other recent engagements include: his début with the Bard Music Festival as Bomeliy (The Tsar’s Bride); Pong (Turandot); Spoletta (Tosca) with the Canadian Opera Company; and Pong (Turandot), Incredible (Andrea Chénier), Vítek (Věc Makropulos), and Der Ring des Nibelungen with San Francisco Opera.
As a regular at The Metropolitan Opera, he performed in Madama Butterfly, Tosca, Samson et Dalila, Die Zauberflöte, War and Peace, Der Rosenkavalier, Salome, and Les contes d’Hoffmann.
Andrew C. Brown
Baron Douphol
Baron Douphol
Company appearances: Marco in Gianni Schicchi (2023)
Notable: Figaro, The Barber of Seville, the father, Hansel and Gretel (Amarillo Opera); Scarpia, Tosca (Permian Basin Opera); Angelotti, Tosca (LA Phil); The Fantastic Mr. Fox, Salome (Opera San Antonio); Missa Solemnis (Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra); Dr. Grenville, La traviata, Madama Butterfly (San Francisco Opera); Achilla, Julius Caesar, Colline, La bohéme (English National Opera); Chick, Wonderful Town (Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano Giuseppe Verdi); Il Duca Ramiro, Maria Padilla (Ludwig van Beethoven Easter Festival of Warsaw, Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra); Leporello, Don Giovanni, L’Empreur, Le Rossignol, Dr. Bartolo, The Marriage of Figaro, Don Alfono, Cosí fan tutte (Yale School of Music).
DeAndre Simmons
Marchese D'Obigny
Marchese D'Obigny
Company appearances: Sciarrone in Tosca (2023), The Bonze in Madama Butterfly (2024)
American bass, DeAndre Simmons. Notable appearances: Amonasro, Aida (Portland Opera in the Park); Oroveso, Norma (NJ Verismo Opera); Padre Guardiano, La Forza del Destino (Atlantic Opera Festival); Alidoro, Cenerentola (Opera Philadelphia); Carbon, Cyrano (Opera Philadelphia); Soloist, Mozart Requiem (Santa Barbara Symphony); soloist, Beethoven Ninth (Santa Barbara Symphony); Boatman, Sunday in the park with George (CCAE Theatricals); soloist, Verdi Requiem (London Symphony); Caiaphas, Jesus Christ Superstar (Moonlight Theatre); soloist, World Childhood Fdn for HM Queens Silvia of Sweden; Recital, Die Winterreise(Chicago, NYC, LA, Berlin, Paris, London); soloist, Handel’s Messiah (Grand Junction Symphony); Ferrando, Il Trovatore (Astoria Music Festival); soloist, Haydn’s The Creation (Bar Choral Society & London Symphony); Grand Inquisitor, Candide (LA Philharmonic); Cal, Regina (Pacific Opera Victoria); Sarastro, Die Zauberflöte (Opera Panama); Recital, (Musée Jacquemart-André, Paris)
IG: @DeAndresVoice
Michael Sokol
Doctor Grenville
Doctor Grenville
Company appearances: Sergeant of Police in The Pirates of Penzance (2017), Ensemble, All is Calm: The Christmas Truce of 1914 (2018); soloist, When I See Your Face Again (2021); Maestro Spinelloccio in Gianni Schicchi (2023), A Sacristan in Tosca (2023), Mr. Costello in Ghosts (2023).
Notable appearances: Metropolitan Opera; Philadelphia Orchestra; Steppenwolf Theatre in Chicago; Frank Lloyd Wright, Shining Brow (Madison Opera); director, San Diego Summer Gilbert and Sullivan Workshop.
Tzytle Steinman
Flora
Flora
Company appearances – Page in Rigoletto, February 2019
Tzytle Steinman (Mezzo-Soprano) is originally from Oceanside, CA. She is so excited to be back singing at San Diego Opera. In 2019, she performed as the Page in Rigoletto with San Diego Opera, which was her professional debut. She has performed with multiple companies including The Glimmerglass Festival, The Florentine Opera, Fargo-Moorhead Opera and Bodhi Tree Concerts. Her roles include Anna 1 in The Seven Deadly Sins, L’enfent in L’enfant et les sortilèges, Buttercup in HMS Pinafore, Rosina in the Barber of Seville (Tour), Dorabella in Cosi fan tutte, Dinah in Trouble in Tahiti, Tisbe in La Cenerentola, Stephano in Roméo et Juliette and Mercedes in Carmen. Tzytle was a Grand Prize Winner at the Patricia Crump Vocal Competition and has won multiple awards from the Laffont Competition. She received her MM in Opera from Northwestern University and her BM from Boston Conservatory. She was a contestant on the Price is Right.
Erika Nicole Alatorre
Annina
Annina
San Diego Opera debut
Erika Nicole Alatorre is a Mexican-American soprano, acclaimed for her vocal beauty, musicianship and consummate acting skills. Rachel Willis-Sørensen hails “Ms. Alatorre is so talented, the world must hear her voice!” Her Recent roles include: Pierrette (Girondines) with Los Angeles’ Mission Opera, Donna Anna (Don Giovanni) Live with Vincerò Academy in Mazatlán, Sinaloa, Mexico, Donna Elvira (Don Giovanni) with LA’s Mission Opera and Violetta (La traviata) with Vincerò Academy, Zerlina in professionally staged scenes of (Don Giovanni) at Carnegie Hall and Nella (Gianni Schicchi) with Opera Romana Craiova, Romania.
Ms. Alatorre performs in the USA, Europe, Mexico, Puerto Rico, and Canada. Follow Ms. Alatorre’s career on her website, Facebook page and instagram.
Yves Abel
Conductor
Conductor
Maestro Yves Abel is San Diego Opera’s Principal Conductor. He made his Company debut in 2013 for performances of The Daughter of the Regiment. He returned in 2014 for Pagliacci, in 2016 for Madama Butterfly, in 2019 for Carmen, in 2022 for Roméo et Juliette, the Puccini Duo of Suor Angelica and Gianni Schicchi in 2023 and Don Giovanni and Madama Butterfly in 2024. He is the Chief Conductor designate of the NordwestDeutsche Philarmonie, Germany. A frequent guest with the world’s great opera companies, Yves Abel has conducted performances at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden; La Scala, Milan; the Metropolitan Opera, New York; Lyric Opera of Chicago; San Francisco Opera; Seattle Opera; Glyndebourne Festival; Bayerische Staatsoper; Opéra National de Paris; Netherlands Opera; Grand Théatre de Génève; Teatro San Carlo, Naples; Teatro Communale Bologna; New National Theatre, Tokyo; Welsh National Opera and Opera North. He has conducted new productions in Liceo (The Pearl Fishers), Munich (I Capuleti e i Montecchi), Geneva (Les Vêpres Siciliennes), Barcelona (Madama Butterfly), Bilbao (Norma), Toulouse (Lalo’s Le Roi d’Ys and The Tales of Hoffmann), Lisbon (Il Turco in Italia), Naples (Gounod’s Faust), Dallas (Ermione), Seattle (Il trovatore and Heggie’s The End of Affair), Monte Carlo Opera (Il Turco in Italia) and Santa Fe (Così fan tutte), and at the festivals of Pesaro, Caramoor, the Menuhin festival in Gstaad, and the Spoleto festival in Charleston and Spoleto, Italy. As Principal Guest Conductor of the Deutsche Oper, Berlin from 2005 to 2011, he conducted new productions of Don Pasquale, Simon Boccanegra, d’Albert’s Tiefland, and Carmen, as well as performances of The Marriage of Figaro, La traviata, Dialogues des Carmélites, La bohème and Carmina Burana. He is a frequent guest at the Vienna Staatsoper where his repertoire includes The Daughter of the Regiment, The Elixir of Love, Carmen, Madama Butterfly, Simon Boccanegra, A Masked Ball, and L’italiana in Algeri. In concerts he has performed with the Copenhagen Philharmonic Orchestra at the Tivoli Festival, the RTE National Symphony Orchestra, Dublin, the Rotterdam Philharmonic, the Orchèstre du Capitole de Toulouse, the Stavanger Symphony Orchestra, and the Filarmonica Arturo Toscanini in Parma. He has also conducted the Toronto Symphony, Montreal Symphony, Netherlands Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, Orchèstre National de Lyon, Orchestra of St. Luke’s New York, the Royal Liverpool, the Haydn Orchestra in Bolzano and the orchestras of Genoa, Naples, and Palermo among others. A Franco-Canadian, he has a particular affinity with the French repertoire and has won significant critical acclaim for his achievements as founder and Music Director of L’Opéra Francais de New York, with whom he has regenerated rare French operas and also performed the world premiere of Dusapin’s To be Sung. Since 1994, the company has performed regularly to capacity audiences at the Lincoln Center. He conducts at various festivals around the world including the Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro and the Glyndebourne festival, among others. His recordings include Thaïs with Renée Fleming and Werther with Andrea Bocelli (Decca), Madama Butterfly with the Philharmonia Orchestra (Chandos), and two discs of French arias, one with Susan Graham and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (Erato) and the other with Patricia Petibon and the Orchestra of the Opera National de Lyon (Decca). His most recent recording, ‘Romantique’, is a disc of romantic arias with Elīna Garanča on Deutsche Grammophon. In 2009 he was awarded the title Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French Government.
Kyle Lang
Director
Director
Company appearances: Stage Director – Don Giovanni (2024), The Puccini Duo (2023), Carmen (2019), and As One (2017)
Kyle Lang is a director and choreographer newly relocated from Maui, Hi to San Diego. His more recent directing credits include Turandot with Teatro Petruzzelli di Bari, Becoming Santa Clause with Chicago Opera Theater, Die Zauberflöte with The Dallas Opera, Le Nozze di Figaro, The Pirates of Penzance and La Cenerentola with Virginia Opera, Die Fledermaus with Utah Opera, and The Bear with Wexford Festival Opera. His recent choreographic credits include Becoming Santa Clause with Chicago Opera Theater, The Pirates of Penzance with Virginia Opera and Utah Opera, My Fair Lady with Teatro Massimo di Palermo and Teatro San Carlo di Napoli, Ariadne auf Naxos with Santa Fe Opera, Vanessa with Wexford Festival Opera, and Turandot with Virginia Opera. Upcoming projects include La Bohéme with Hawaii Opera Theatre, The Pirates of Penzance with Central City Opera, and Carmen with Virginia Opera.
ACT 1
In her Parisian salon, Violetta, a courtesan, is greeting guests as they arrive for her party. She has recently come into better health and decided to host a party in celebration. Violetta greets many friends including Gastone, who introduces her to Alfredo Germont. Alfredo has admired Violetta for quite some time and even visited her bedside while she was sick. Gastone tells this to Violetta and Alfredo confirms. Moments later, Baron Douphol, Violetta’s current lover, invites her into the adjacent room. He is asked to give a speech, but when he refuses, the crowd turns to Alfredo. Violetta, not feeling well, tells the crowd to go to the adjacent room to dance. As they leave, Alfredo stays behind and confesses his love for her. She rejects him stating that love means nothing to her. Despite her initial rejection, Alfredo continues to declare his love for her.
She begins to have a change of heart and tells him that she will meet him the next day. After the party is over and the guests are departing, she contemplates Alfredo and asks herself if he is actually the man for her. Singing the famous aria, Sempre libera, she decides that she loves freedom more than love, while Alfredo is heard outside singing about romance.
ACT 2
Three months have passed. In Violetta’s country house outside of Paris, she and Alfredo sing of their love for one another. Violetta has given up her courtesan lifestyle, and all is happy and calm. That afternoon, their maid, Annina, returns to the house. Alfredo, curious, asks her where she went. She tells him that Violetta sent her to sell all of Violetta’s belongings as means to support their country life. With both love and anger, Alfredo sets off for Paris to settle matters on his own. When Violetta enters the room looking for Alfredo, she comes across a party invitation from her friend, Flora. Violetta decides that she will not attend the party, wanting nothing more to do with her previous life. She is happily content where she is. However, when Alfredo’s father, Giorgio, comes to the house, her decision reluctantly changes. Giorgio tells her that she must break up with Alfredo. His daughter is about to be married, but Violetta’s reputation threatens the engagement. Violetta steadfastly refuses and Giorgio is moved. His opinion of her had been wrong – she is more ladylike than he imagined. He still pleads with her to make a sacrifice for his family’s wellbeing. She finally gives in to his request. She sends her RSVP to Flora stating that she will be in attendance and writes her farewell letter to Alfredo. As she writes, Alfredo arrives home. Through her tears and sobs, she tells Alfredo of her undying love for him before rushing off to Paris. A while later, Alfredo’s father returns to console him. Their servant hands Alfredo the letter. After reading it, he sees Flora’s party invitation. He believes that Violetta has abandoned him for her former lover, the Baron. Though Giorgio tries to stop him, he runs out the door to confront Violetta at the party.
Flora learns of Alfredo’s and Violetta’s separation, but is intent on her hosting duties. She makes way for the hired entertainment. When Alfredo arrives, he bitterly sits down at the card table and begins gambling. It isn’t long before Violetta walks in with the Baron. When Alfredo sees her, he shouts to the Baron that she will be leaving with him. the Baron angrily challenges Alfredo to a game of cards, but loses a small fortune to him. When supper is announced, the party guests begin moving to the dining room. Violetta, longing to see Alfredo, asks him to stay behind to speak with her. Fearing that the Baron will become angry and challenge Alfredo to a duel, she asks him to leave the party. Alfredo interprets her request differently and demands her to admit she loves him. Desperate for him to leave, she tells him she does. Alfredo begins shouting at her and calls in the other guests to witness her betrayal. As he begins to humiliate her, he throws his winnings at her. Violetta, overwhelmed, faints and falls to the floor. The guests rebuke him and begin to kick him out of the party. His father shows up and denounces his son’s behavior. End the end, Violetta’s fears come to pass when the Baron challenges Alfredo to a duel.
ACT 3
Half a year has passed and Violetta’s condition has worsened. The doctor tells Annina that Violetta’s tuberculosis has significantly progressed and that she only has a few days left to live. As Violetta lays in her bed, she reads a letter sent by Giorgio telling her that the Baron was only wounded in the duel. He tells her that he confessed to Alfredo that it was his fault for her sudden separation. He also tells her that he has sent his son to her to ask for forgiveness. Violetta, however, feels that it is too late – she has no life left in her. When Annina announces that Alfredo has arrived, it isn’t long before he enters the bedroom and embraces Violetta. Full of passion, he asks her to Paris. When the doctor and Giorgio enter the bedroom, Giorgio is full of remorse and regret. Suddenly, a surge of energy rushes through Violetta’s body and she proclaims she no longer feels pain. She jumps out of bed to run to Paris with Alfredo. But as quickly as she rose, she falls dead to the floor at Alfredo’s feet.
Coming soon….