Warm summer evenings are best spent under the stars with music, which is why the Janáček Opera NdB ensemble is bringing an opera performance to the romantic surroundings of Špilberk Castle again this year.
A timeless tragic story of a courtesan hoping for the happiness of true love. For a brief moment it seems so close, but it's just a dream. Chamber drama in the classic direction of Zbyňek Srba.
Perhaps none of the participants of the Venice premiere, which was a devastating fiasco, believed that they had just witnessed the birth of one of the most popular and performed Italian operas. Verdi found a theme close to him in the novel about the love of the courtesan Violetta and Alfredo, which is not desired by his father or society. He knew the setting well – Paris, a city full of hustle and bustle, he had never been very fond of, and the tragic story reminded him of his life experience. For years he lived in a free union with the soprano Giuseppina Strepponi and felt firsthand the society's opposition to the "illegal" relationship. His personal experience undoubtedly strengthened the understanding and compassion for the main heroine, which pervade the entire opera... The transparent lyrical music, where Italian bel canto is closely combined with dramatic expression, added poignancy to the tragic love story of the famous Parisian courtesan and thus gave birth to an opera evergreen.
