One of Verdi's most popular opera, La Traviata is based on La Dame aux Camélias ("Camille"), the novel and play by Alexandre Dumas, fils that enthralled Parisian audiences of the 1850s with a stirring portrayal of a beautiful courtesan redeemed by love. With his librettist, Francesco Maria Piave, Verdi transformed the Dumas story of a passionate, ultimately poignant love affair within the intoxicating demimonde of Paris in the mid-1800s to an exciting, deeply moving musical drama.

La Traviata fortunately survived its dismal first production in Venice in 1853 to become a worldwide favorite, treasured by musical artists and audiences alike for the lyric beauty of its arias and ensembles, and for the dramatic force and finesse of its orchestral scoring. This full-score edition, designed to provide a lifetime of study and enjoyment, is reproduced from the authoritative edition prepared for G. Ricordi of Milan. It will afford opera lovers a rare opportunity to study intimately Verdi's genius for operatic composition in the early years of its greatest flowering.