La Traviata, quite literally The Fallen Woman, recounts the story of a Parisian courtesan, who actually falls in love with a courtier, and then ends up dying of tuberculosis. In coming up with this masterpiece, Verdi has been quoted as saying he wanted something “of our own age”, and so it remains to this day. Despite this, he was still coerced into having it set a 100 years earlier, in the time of Richelieu. That’s how La Traviata came to be, with all those flamboyant choruses, parties and hearth-wrenching and soul-baring arias.

Colin Attard, will be at the helm of the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra and the Aurora Opera Chorus ensuring the production lives up to the standards set over the past 50 years, making it one lavish opera-night no one should miss.