Versione Italiana

Thursday, 23 June 2016

La Traviata - Famous arias - 01 - Atto I - Prelude


The Prelude of the first act of La Traviata is very popular and everybody knows it because it has been used in many TV spots. The prelude reads backwards the whole opera: it runs throught all the most important moments but from the end to the beginning.
The first theme is tragical and drammatical, you can feel all the tension and the pain of the main character, Violetta. This theme will be used even in the prelude to the third act, when Violetta is ill and close to death.
The second musical theme is the same that Violetta will sing in the II act, "Amami Alfredo - Love me Alfredo", sintex of the love and the spirit of sacrifice that leads all her actions.
At the end the melody becomes more and more frivolous to introduce the scene that opens the Opera: a party in which Violetta and her guests spend their time in the thrill of frivolous pleasures.

In this prelude we can find the three aspects of the character of Violetta: the martyr, the woman in love that sacrifices herself for love, the cheerful courtesan. The character of the protagonist is described by dividing the violins, the first eight and the second eight, depicting her phisical fragility.
Link Spotify
  1. La Traviata - Preludio atto I - Gabriele Santini - 1953
  2. La Traviata - Preludio atto I - Carlo Maria Giulini - 1955 - Live
  3. La Traviata - Preludio atto I - Carlos Kleiber - 1986

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