Is Alfredo really in love?
Is he wiser, more mature, or is it just an illusion?
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La Traviata 2/5 – Alfredo, wisdom or fire?
The best known moment of Verdi’s Traviata is probably the Brindisi, the toast Alfredo is asked to give at the party. What starts as a simple toast (Libiamo ne’ lieti calici, let’s drink in happy glasses) soon becomes a duet with Violetta (Tra voi saprò dividere il tempo mio giocondo, with you I will share my happy moments) and the Choir of all the guests.
Alfredo is a young men and he is in love with Violetta. His passion and romance persuade Violetta to change her lifestyle. She throws all her doubts away and accepts to live with her man and to live the dream of a real family. Hence Alfredo’s happiness, and the feeling of not being just a young man in love anymore, but rather a grown up, family man.
| De’ miei bollenti spiriti il giovanile ardore ella temprò col placido sorriso dell’amore! Dal dì che disse: vivere io voglio a te fedel, dell’universo immemore io vivo quasi in ciel. | My passionate spirit and the fire of youth she tempers with the gentle smile of love! Since the day when she told me “I want to live, faithful to you alone!” I have forgotten the world and lived like one in heaven. |
“De’ miei bollenti spiriti” – Open12 Editions
What Alfredo had not understood, however, is that Violetta is funding their life, not him. In fact, she’s going to Paris to sell some property, in order to mantain herself and the family. The shame for Alfredo, a “man of honour”, is too strong to take, and his flames revive.
| Oh mio rimorso! Oh infamia! Io vissi in tale errore! Ma il turpe sogno a frangere il ver mi balenò! Per poco in seno acquetati, o grido o grido dell’onore; m’avrai securo vindice; quest’onta laverò. | Oh my regret! Oh shame! I lived in such a mistake! But the truth came to shatter the awful dream! Keep quiet for a while in my heart, cry of honour; I will vertainly overcaom; this shame I will wash away. |
“Oh mio rimorso” – Open7 Editions
See more information on La Traviata (G. Verdi)
La Traviata 1/5 – Violetta, true love?
La Traviata 2/5 – Alfredo, wisdom or fire?
La Traviata 3/5 – Amami, Alfredo!
La Traviata 4/5 – Zingarelle & Matadores
La Traviata 5/5 – Too late to leave Paris?
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