Despite initial failure, Giuseppe Verdi's La Traviata (1853) developed into one of the most popular operas in music history. It is about the unhappy love between the courtesan Violetta Valéry, who is suffering from tuberculosis, and the bourgeois Alfredo Germont. Under pressure from Alfredo's father, Violetta sacrifices herself and ends her mesalliance with Alfredo in order to save the honour of the Germont family. In doing so, she plunges herself and Alfredo into emotional chaos. In the end, they are reunited, but Violetta dies of her illness shortly afterwards.
The title La Traviata 'she who has gone astray' can refer both to Violetta's social position as a courtesan and to the fact that she brings misfortune on herself and Alfredo by separating.
Both preludes begin with the same seven bars, which are closely linked to the last hours of Violetta's life, her infirmity and death. The stage direction at the beginning of Act 3 reads:
Camera da letto di Violetta. Nel fondo è un letto con cortine mezze tirate; una finestra chiusa da imposte interne;
"Violetta's bedroom. In the background is a bed with half-drawn curtains. A window, closed by internal shutters."
In the preludio to Act 1, Verdi anticipates a melody from Act 2, which Violetta sings in utter despair as she separates from Alfredo:
Amami, Alfredo, quant'io t'amo... Ad-di-o.
"Love me, Alfredo, as much as I love you ... Farewell."
Violetta's words, anticipated in the prelude to Act 3, refer to her unshakeable faith, even though as a courtesan she will not find salvation in the church:
Mi confortò ier sera un pio ministro
Religione è sollievo ai sofferenti.
"I was comforted last night by a compassionate priest.
Religion is relief for the suffering."
The scores and piano reductions by Ricordi, which served as models for the quartet arrangements, are unfortunately extremely inconsistent, which also affected the present edition. It is curious, for example, that despite different tempo markings (Adagio and Andante), both preludes have the same metronome markings. It is up to the interpreter to intervene respectfully and responsibly in the musical text.
The arrangements are set in rotating instrumentation so that all players can appear as soloists. For the performance of the preludes, a b-foot is required in the 1st and 4th flute.
The arrangements of the Traviata preludes are dedicated to Soyoun Kim in gratitude.
Munich, July 2024
Henrik Wiese
