Mary Dibbern will join Carol Minnetti and Olaf Pfannkuch for Tuesday’s live radio broadcast, Bonjour Minnesota. (February 22, 2011). She will speak to the Francophone community (with English sprinkled in!) about the upcoming Minnesota Opera production of La Traviata. She will also narrate and play excerpts from Verdi’s opera in an historic recording with Anna Moffo as Violetta, Richard Tucker as Alfredo and Robert Merrill as Germont.

La traviata was a scandal, and was censored in both France and England….both church and the press found it to be “immoral and hideous”. It survived this rocky beginning to become one of the most beloved, and elegant, operas ever written. Please join us at 8pm to hear some beautiful music and entertaining stories at KFAI (90.3 FM Minneapolis and 106.7 FM St. Paul).

And don’t forget to come to Alliance Française on Thursday (February 24) to hear The True Story of La Traviata. Mary Dibbern will present (in French, Intermediate Level or above) the story of Alexandre Dumas fils, a young novelist who fell madly in love with a courtesan . . . Marie Duplessis (aka Alphonsine Plessis), and after her death wrote in only three weeks what was to become one of the most famous novels of the 19th century, The Lady of the Camellias, which a year later was transformed into Verdi’s opera, La traviata.

This lecture is free and open to the public. It will be followed by wine and cheese. It starts at 6pm at the Alliance headquarters located at 113 N. 1st St, Minneapolis, 55401-1411.

The True Story of La Traviata/L’histoire vrai de la Traviata

This week we moved into production of Verdi’s La traviata with a marvelous double cast for the leading roles of Violetta and Alfredo. There will be eight performances, starting on Saturday, March 5, through Sunday, March 13. Minnesota Opera has teamed with Alliance Française of Minneapolis St. Paul to offer lectures on operas concerning all things French. Although La traviata, a masterpiece by Giuseppe Verdi, is an Italian opera, there could never be a more “French” subject that the true story of the courtesan Marie Plessis, as told by her lover Alexandre Dumas fils (the French way of saying Dumas, Junior!). The fictionalized account of their stormy relationship became a best-seller of the 19th century. Minnesota Opera’s Head of Music, Mary Dibbern, will tell this story, illustrated with documents and photos of Paris, at the Alliance Française on February 24, starting at 6pm. The lecture will be in French for Intermediate level or above. It will be followed by wine and cheese to end the event by 7:30pm. The event is free and open to the public. The Alliance is located at 113 North 1st Street, Minneapolis, 55401. Come back to this blog every Monday to continue reading about this true story of the woman known as La Traviata!