and feverish ornamentation as she swears to stay free ("Sempre libera"). These coloratura effects are not required for the character after the first act. The lengthy and crucial duet between the elder Germont and Violetta in act 2 is multi-sectioned with the music following the changing dramatic situation. La traviata is the only one of Verdi's many operas to be set entirely indoors. Unlike Il trovatore, which was composed simultaneously, La traviata is an intimate piece, full of tender lyricism. The character of Violetta dominates the work and her music changes as she develops through the drama, from the hectic, almost hysterical coloratura of the first act, to the more dramatic passages of the second, and the spiritual quality of her music as she dies in act 3. Recordings Film versions A 1967 film version by Mario Lanfranchi features Anna Moffo as Violetta, Franco Bonisolli as Alfredo, Gino Bechi as Giorgio Germont, and the chorus and orchestra of the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma, conducted by Giuseppe Patanè. Franco Zeffirelli directed La Traviata in 1983, with Teresa Stratas as Violetta, Plácido Domingo as Alfredo, and Cornell MacNeil as Giorgio Germont. The 2012 documentary film Becoming Traviata chronicles at length rehearsals for a production of La traviata directed by at the Aix-en-Provence Festival featuring Natalie Dessay and Charles Castronovo. Inspired music Donato Lovreglio (1841–1907), an Italian flautist and composer, wrote the "Concert Fantasy on themes from Verdi's La traviata", Op. 45, for clarinet and orchestra (published Ricordi, 1865); in it, Lovreglio used the overture and several arias from the opera. The Spanish composer Julián Arcas (1832–1882) wrote a "Fantasía sobre motivos de La traviata". References Notes Cited sources Further reading Baldini, Gabriele (1970), (trans. Roger Parker, 1980), The Story of Giuseppe Verdi: Oberto to Un Ballo in Maschera. Cambridge, et al: Cambridge University Press. Balthazar, Scott. The Cambridge Companion to Verdi. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2004. . Chusid, Martin, (Ed.) (1997), Verdi's Middle Period, 1849 to 1859, Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press. De Van, Gilles (trans. Gilda Roberts) (1998), Verdi's Theater: Creating Drama Through Music. Chicago & London: University of Chicago Press. (hardback), Gossett, Philip (2006), Divas and Scholar: Performing Italian Opera, Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Martin, George, Verdi: His Music, Life and Times (1983), New York: Dodd, Mead and Company. Osborne, Charles (1969), The Complete Opera of Verdi, New York: Da Capo Press, Inc. Parker, Roger (2007),