La traviata March 2, 5, 8 and 10, 2013 In celebration of the bicentennial of Giuseppe Verdi’s birth, the Atlanta Opera’s second opera of the 2012-2013 season will be the tale of opera’s most beloved “fallen woman,” La traviata. La traviata is based on La dame aux Camélias (1852), a play adapted from a novel by Alexandre Dumas, and was composed by Giuseppe Verdi using a libretto by Francesco Maria Piave. This will be the Atlanta Opera’s fifth production of La traviata, and will be presented on March 2, 5, 8 and 10, 2013. In this beautiful and tragic love story, Violetta Valery, mistress of a wealthy baron, gets swept away by Alfredo Germont. Though they leave Violetta’s chaotic previous life, Alfredo’s father, Giorgio Germont, convinces Violetta that their relationship must end for the good of the Germont family. She writes Alfredo a farewell letter, and returns to the baron, hoping to create enough distance between she and Alfredo. Misunderstanding her motives, Alfredo goes into a jealous rage, and by the time the lovers are reunited, Violetta dies of tuberculosis in Alfredo’s arms. In her Atlanta Opera debut, soprano Mary Dunleavy will be singing the role of the high-spirited Violetta. Ms. Dunleavy has received critical acclaim for her “effortless” and “nuanced” portrayal of the role in more than 65 productions. Playing Alfredo, Violetta’s lover, is Russian tenor Boris Rudak, in his American and Atlanta Opera debut. Baritone Weston Hurt will be singing the role of Giorgio Germont. Mr. Hurt performed with The Atlanta Opera in Madama Butterfly in 2008. World-renowned conductor, Joseph Rescigno, will be conducting. This production will use sets owned by The Atlanta Opera and designed by Claude Girard and Bernard Uzan. La traviata will be sung in Italian with projected English translations.