Nationale Opera - La traviata

A heartbreaking story of a 'material girl'

With the novel La Dame aux Camélias by Alexandre Dumas, published in 1848, Verdi chose a contemporary fact as the basis for one of his operas for the first time – Marie Duplessis, the Parisian courtesan who served as the model for the title part, had died in 1847. She was a cult figure who epitomized success and glamour but met a tragic end.