Table Of ContentTHE SOUNDS OF PARIS IN VERDI’S LA TRAVIATA
HowdidParisanditsmusicallandscapeinfluenceVerdi’sLatraviata?Inthisbook,
EmilioSalare-examinesLatraviataintheculturalcontextoftheFrenchcapitalin
themidnineteenthcentury.VerdiarrivedinParisin1847andstayedforalmost
twoyears:there,hebeganhisrelationshipwithGiuseppinaStrepponiand
assiduouslyattendedperformancesatthepopulartheatres,whoseplaysmade
frequentuseofincidentalmusictointensifyemotionandrendercertaindramatic
momentsmemorabletotheaudience.Itwasinoneofthesepopulartheatresthat
VerdiprobablywitnessedoneofthefirstperformancesofDumasfils’sLaDameaux
camélias,whichbecamehugelysuccessfulin1852.Makinguseofprimarysource
material,includingunpublishedmusicalworks,journalarticlesandrare
documentsandimages,Sala’scloseexaminationoftheincidentalmusicforLa
Dameauxcamélias–anditsmusicalcontext–offersaninvaluableinterpretationof
Latraviata’smodernity.
emilio sala isAssociateProfessorofMusicalDramaturgyattheUniversityof
Milan.Hisresearchfocusesonthemusicaldramaturgyofopera,melodramaand
filmmusic,andhispublicationsincludeL’operasenzacanto:Ilméloromanticoe
l’invenzionedellacolonnasonora(1995)andIlvalzerdellecamelie:EchidiPariginella
Traviata(2008).HehaspublishedarticlesandreviewsinCambridgeOperaJournal,
Musicaestoria,Musica/Realtà,Musicalia,OperaQuarterly,Orages,Revuede
musicologie,Revued’histoirelittérairedelaFrance,Ilsaggiatoremusicale,Studi
verdianiandelsewhere.
CAMBRIDGE STUDIES IN OPERA
Serieseditor:ARTHURGROOS,CornellUniversity
VolumesforCambridgeStudiesinOperaexplorethecultural,politicalandsocialinflu-
encesofthegenre.Asaculturalartform,operaisnotproducedinavacuum.Rather,
it is influenced, whether directly or in more subtle ways, by its social and political
environment.Inturn,operaleavesitsmarkonsocietyandcontributestoshapingthe
culturalclimate.Studiestobeincludedintheserieswilllookatthesevariousrelation-
ships including the politics and economics of opera, the operatic representation of
women or the singers who portrayed them, the history of opera as theatre and the
evolutionoftheoperahouse.
Publishedtitles
OperaBuffainMozart’sVienna
EditedbyMaryHunterandJamesWebster
GermanOpera:FromtheBeginningstoWagner
JohnWarrack
JohannStraussandVienna:OperettaandthePoliticsofPopularCulture
CamilleCrittenden
OperaandDramainEighteenth-CenturyLondon:TheKing’sTheatre,Garrickand
theBusinessofPerformance
IanWoodfield
Opera,Liberalism,andAntisemitisminNineteenth-CenturyFrance:ThePoliticsof
Halévy’sLaJuive
DianaR.Hallman
ThreeModesofPerceptioninMozart:ThePhilosophical,Pastoral,andComicinCosì
fantutte
EdmundJ.Goehring
LandscapeandGenderinItalianOpera:TheAlpineVirginfromBellinitoPuccini
EmanueleSenici
AestheticsofOperaintheAncienRégime,1647–1785
DowningA.Thomas
ThePucciniProblem:Opera,Nationalism,andModernity
AlexandraWilson
ThePrimaDonnaandOpera,1815–1930
SusanRutherford
OperaandSocietyinItalyandFrancefromMonteverditoBourdieu
EditedbyVictoriaJohnson,JaneF.Fulcher,andThomasErtman
Wagner’sRingCycleandtheGreeks
DanielH.Foster
WhenOperaMeetsFilm
MarciaJ.Citron
SituatingOpera:Period,Genre,Reception
HerbertLindenberger
RossiniinRestorationParis:TheSoundofModernLife
BenjaminWalton
ItalianOperaintheAgeoftheAmericanRevolution
PierpaoloPolzonetti
OperaintheNovelfromBalzactoProust
CormacNewark
OperaintheAgeofRousseau:Music,Confrontation,Realism
DavidCharlton
TheSoundsofParisinVerdi’sLatraviata
EmilioSala
The Sounds of Paris in Verdi’s
La traviata
Emilio Sala
Translated by Delia Casadei
cambridgeuniversitypress
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CambridgeUniversityPress
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PublishedintheUnitedStatesofAmericabyCambridgeUniversityPress,NewYork
www.cambridge.org
Informationonthistitle:www.cambridge.org/9781107009011
FirstpublishedintheoriginalItalianasIlvalzerdellecamelie:echidiPariginellaTraviata
byEmilioSala
©2008EDTsrl
Thispublicationisincopyright.Subjecttostatutoryexception
andtotheprovisionsofrelevantcollectivelicensingagreements,
noreproductionofanypartmaytakeplacewithout
thewrittenpermissionofCambridgeUniversityPress.
FirstpublishedbyCambridgeUniversityPress2013
PrintedandBoundintheUnitedKingdombytheMPGBooksGroup
AcataloguerecordforthispublicationisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary
LibraryofCongressCataloguinginPublicationdata
Sala,Emilio,1959–
[Valzerdellecamelie.English]
ThesoundsofParisinVerdi’sLaTraviata/EmilioSala;translatedbyDeliaCasadei.
pages cm.–(Cambridgestudiesinopera)
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
isbn978-1-107-00901-1(Hardback)
1. Verdi,Giuseppe,1813–1901.Traviata. 2. Paris(France)inopera. 3. Verdi,Giuseppe,
1813–1901–Travel–France–Paris. I. Casadei,Delia,translator. II. Title.
ml410.v4s332013
782.1–dc23
2012043981
isbn978-1-107-00901-1Hardback
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Paris was a perpetual hurly-burly; the men and women init
were whirledaway by atempestuous waltz.
Balzac,Le Cousin Pons
Qu’est-ce que l’art? Prostitution.
Baudelaire, Fusées
