G. Verdi. Unpublished autograph letter about "La traviata", 1853

VERDI, GIUSEPPE

Unpublished autograph letter signed ("GVerdi"), about "La Traviata", 15 December 1853

written to Carlo Baucardé (the first Manrico in Il trovatore), who now wishes to sing the role of Alfredo at the Teatro Apollo in Rome; Verdi politely declines to permit the production, not because he has no faith in his opera, which he maintains is on a par with his others, despite its disastrous premiere ("del fiasco della Fenice"), but because he wants to supervise staging the work himself to establish its true worth; he fully explains his exacting requirements for the lead role of Violetta ("not just talented, but with a special talent for this particular work, an expressive singer who can also act"), pointing out that he does not know the intended primadonna Noémie De Roissy and, whatever her merits, he does not want to risk the opera again before being certain she is able to do it justice ("...Non vi nascondo per altro che io stimo necessario per in Traviata una prima donna di gran talento non solo, ma di un talento speciale per quell’opera: di una cantante di sent.mes nto, e di una attrice..."); Verdi assures Baucardé that he would be delighted to stage La traviata with him as Alfredo, especially since he has expressed his enthusiasm for the role, but confirms that he has asked Ricordi not to send the score of the opera to Rome    

1 page, 8vo (c.20.5 x 13.5cm), integral blank, French paper ("[Lacroix] Freres"), Verdi's embossed monogram, Rue Richer 4, Paris, 15 December 1853, overall browning, very slight splitting at fold but generally sound

UNPUBLISHED; not in the Copialettere, Abbiati or Rescigno (2012).

"Today, La traviata, is without question the most widely loved opera in the Verdian canon" (Budden, 1978). However the premiere in Venice on 6 March 1853 was famously a great disaster: Verdi wrote "La Traviata was a fiasco; my fault or the singers? t.mes alone will tell".  The failure was put down to the acting of the first Violetta, whose strong constitution evidently made her protracted demise from consumption unconvincing. Carlo Baucardé (1825-1883), who had successfully created the tenor role of Manrico in Il trovatore at the Apollo in January, hoped this would help persuade the composer to allow the production, but to no avail. This letter is unpublished, but Verdi sent a similar rebuff to the Apollo's impresario Jacovacci (see Abbiati II, 266; Rescigno, p.297).