The stars are soprano Patrizia Ciofi as Violetta and tenor Vittorio Grigolo as Alfredo, with conductor Myung-Whun Chung.

NPR: Verdi's 'La Traviata:' The Original 'Pretty Woman'

His carer, Violetta Aylward, an agency nurse working for the NHS, was filmed switching off her patient's life support machine.

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And if Verdi had lived, say, in the Baroque era, when operas nearly always had happy endings, Violetta might have done just as well for herself.

NPR: Verdi's 'La Traviata:' The Original 'Pretty Woman'

If other singers have brought more elegance and charisma to their physical embodiment of the character, few have equaled her in portraying Violetta through her music.

WSJ: Damrau dazzles in debut as Violetta at Met

The role of Violetta requires a bigger, warmer voice and more dramatic inflection than this petite coloratura soprano can muster, despite her obvious gifts as an actress.

NEWYORKER: Classical Music

Violetta Galia said she was afraid to remain in Bologna.

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The role of the demimondaine Violetta requires a bigger, warmer voice and more dramatic inflection than this petite coloratura soprano can muster, despite her obvious gifts as an actress.

NEWYORKER: Classical Music

Invited back the following year to perform the role of the heroine Violetta in Verdi's "La Traviata, " she met Ms. Clayton, who was playing Violetta's best friend, Flora, in the production.

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And when the opera was over and soprano Diana Damrau stepped forward to take a solo bow as the heroine, Violetta, many members of the near-capacity crowd leaped to their feet in one of the more heartfelt and sustained standing ovations in recent memory.

WSJ: Damrau dazzles in debut as Violetta at Met