La Traviata

Giuseppe Verdi
LA TRAVIATA
Opera in 3 acts
Libretto by Francesco Maria Piave
Sung in the original language with Lithuanian surtitles
Premiere in Kaunas: 26 December 2021

First performed on 31 December 1920, G. Verdi’s opera La Traviata became the first production of the professional Lithuanian opera theatre and marked the beginning of professional opera in Lithuania. After the centenary of professional opera in Lithuania was commemorated in 2020, a new production of La Traviata continued the century-old tradition of this legendary opera on the Kaunas stage. La Traviata was also staged in Kaunas in 1931, 1952, 1966, 1984 and 1999.

After the Kaunas State Musical Theatre company brought La Traviata back to the Kaunas stage in 1952, it continued for many years the tradition, begun with the opera’s first production in 1920, of performing it on New Year’s Eve. Brindisi was not heard only during the bleak years of 1948–1951, when the Opera Theatre moved to Vilnius and Kaunas was briefly left without La Traviata. The tradition was partly interrupted in 1992, when the New Year was welcomed with a festive concert. However, the performance was moved to 30 December, preserving the celebration familiar to many Kaunas music lovers: bidding farewell to the old year to the sound of La Traviata, which had become a “national” opera.

The performance features theatre company members and guest soloists, as well as choir and ballet artists.