La traviata is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi set to an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave. It is based on La Dame aux camélias (1852), a play by Alexandre Dumas fils, which he adapted from his own 1848 novel. The opera was originally titled Violetta, after the main character. It was first performed on 6 March 1853 at La Fenice opera house in Venice.
Lucia Aliberti is an Italian operatic soprano singer. She performed the bel canto roles of Bellini, Rossini, Donizetti, Verdi, Puccini, Vivaldi, Mercadante and so on.
Cheryl Studer is an American dramatic soprano who has sung at many of the world's foremost opera houses. Studer has performed more than eighty roles ranging from the dramatic repertoire to roles more commonly associated with lyric sopranos and coloratura sopranos, and, in her late stage, mezzo-sopranos. She is particularly known for her interpretations of the works of Richard Strauss and Richard Wagner.
Inese Galante is a Latvian soprano opera singer. Galante is known for a great beauty of tone, nuanced pianissimos and sensitive command of dynamics and colour. Her performance of Vladimir Vavilov's Ave Maria, from her "Debut" album (1995) attracted worldwide interest in the piece.
Licia Albanese was an Italian-born American operatic soprano. Noted especially for her portrayals of the lyric heroines of Verdi and Puccini, Albanese was a leading artist with the Metropolitan Opera from 1940 to 1966. She also made many recordings and was chairwoman of The Licia Albanese-Puccini Foundation, which is dedicated to assisting young artists and singers.
Maria Antonietta Stella was an Italian operatic soprano, and one of the most prominent Italian spinto sopranos of the 1950s and 1960s. She made her debut in Spoleto in 1950, as Leonora in Verdi's Il trovatore, a year later at Rome Opera, as Leonora in La forza del destino, in 1954 at La Scala in Milan, as Desdemona in Otello, in 1955 at the Royal Opera House in London as Aida, and in 1956 at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City, in the same role.
Maria Chiara is an Italian lyric soprano.
"Libiamo ne' lieti calici" is a famous duet with chorus from Giuseppe Verdi's La traviata (1853), one of the best-known opera melodies and a popular performance choice for many great tenors and sopranos. The song is a brindisi, a lively song that encourages the drinking of wine or other alcoholic beverages.
Gabriella Tucci was an Italian operatic soprano who was particularly associated with the Italian repertory and performed at notable opera houses worldwide. She appeared at the Metropolitan Opera in 11 Verdi roles across 13 seasons, including Violetta in La traviata and Desdemona in Otello.
Rosanna Carteri was an Italian soprano, primarily active from the 1950s through the mid 1960s. After her debut in Rome at age 19 as Elsa in Wagner's Lohengrin, she appeared in leading roles internationally, based at La Scala in Milan. She participated in world premieres such as the title role of Pizzetti's Ifigenia.
Ines Maria Ferraris was an Italian operatic soprano and pianist who sang for more than two decades at La Scala in addition to appearances on the international stage. Although popular in Italy, she had a particularly devoted fanbase throughout South America. A light lyric soprano with a pure and agile voice, Ferraris sang a wide repertoire that encompassed the verismo operas of Puccini, the Italian grand opera of Verdi, and the German operas of Richard Strauss. She is particularly remembered for portraying the role of Lisette in the world première of Puccini's La rondine in 1917.
Lisette Oropesa is an American operatic soprano of Cuban ancestry. Her repertoire includes works from Gluck, Handel, Mozart, Rossini, Donizetti, Wagner, Verdi, Bizet, Massenet and Puccini. With her lyric coloratura soprano voice, she has performed roles in her native Spanish and English, as well as German, French and Italian. She is particularly noted in the roles of Susanna, Gilda, Konstanze, Lucia and Manon.
Ada Sari was a Polish opera singer, actress, and educator. One of the leading dramatic coloratura sopranos of her generation, she possessed a large, resonant voice with a clear timbre. Her career took her to the stages of the best opera houses and concert halls in Europe during the first half of the 20th century. Her signature roles included Gilda in Rigoletto, Mimi in La bohème, Rosina in The Barber of Seville, Violetta in La traviata, and the title roles in Lakmé and Lucia di Lammermoor. She also gave lauded concert tours in North and South America.
Bertha May Crawford was a Canadian opera singer. She built an international reputation as a lyric coloratura soprano in the early 20th century in eastern Europe, performing prima donna roles with opera companies in Russia and Poland between 1914 and 1934. At her death in 1937, music critics considered her the most distinguished soprano produced in that century in Canada. She is remembered as having "a high lyric soprano of great beauty and agility" and was best known for her performances as Rosina in The Barber of Seville, Violetta in La traviata, and Gilda in Rigoletto.
Aleksandra Kurzak is a Polish operatic soprano who has an international career primarily in Europe and the United States. In her earlier career she was a specialist in lyric and coloratura soprano roles in German and Italian repertoire, and transitioned into heavier roles in 19th-century Romantic and verismo operas.
Maria Pellegrini is a Canadian operatic soprano of Italian birth who has had an active international career since the 1960s. She is particularly associated with the operas of Giacomo Puccini and Giuseppe Verdi. In 1965 she became a naturalized Canadian citizen.
Edyta Piasecka is a Polish dramatic coloratura soprano.
Maria Mudryak is a Kazakh operatic soprano.
Adalgisa Gabbi was an Italian operatic soprano. After her 1875 debut in Lecco as Maria in Filippo Marchetti's Ruy Blas, she first made a name abroad, performing in Poland, Latin America, and London. It was not until the late 1880s that she established herself in Italy, performing in Turin, Naples, and in Milan, where she appeared in December 1889 at La Scala as Eva in the Italian premiere of Wagner's Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg.
Sheri Greenawald is an American soprano and music educator who had an active performance career in concerts and operas during the second half of the 20th century and early 21st century. She has portrayed principal roles in the world premieres of several operas, including works by composers Leonard Bernstein, Daniel Catán, Carlisle Floyd, Thomas Pasatieri, and Stephen Paulus. She has performed leading roles with opera companies in the US and abroad, including the Metropolitan Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Houston Grand Opera, Bavarian State Opera, La Fenice, and Paris Opera. She was particularly active as a performer with the Santa Fe Opera and San Francisco Opera. A former member of the voice faculty at the Boston Conservatory, she served as director of the San Francisco Opera Center from 2002 through 2020.
