Along with Rigoletto (1851) and Il Trovatore (1853), La traviata forms the trio of popular operas that consecrated Giusseppe Verdi after the end of "the anni di galera", as he called the years when he sold his talent by satisfying commissions of the entrepreneurs of the most diverse opera houses in the world. Contrary to the expectations generated two years before in tenor of the premiere of Rigoletto, the premiere of La Traviata at the Fenice was a resounding failure. The composer, who had serious disagreements about the cast chosen by the management of the Teatre de la Fenice, returned years later to another theater in Venice. And it was here, at the San Benedetto, that the true triumph of this emblematic opera came.
