Verdi: La Traviata Act III | Gheorghiu, Vargas, Frontali - Maazel (La Scala 2007)

ACT III: Violetta's bedroom
Violetta is alone except for her maid Annina. She is practically penniless and dying of the consumption which has been racking her. A carnival is taking place in the streets outside while she lies in bed. She has had a letter from Germont which she reads through again: Alfredo has wounded the baron in a duel and had to leave the country for a while. Germont has told him of Violetta's sacrifice and he is coming back to ask her forgiveness. But Violetta knows that she has little time left and that her days of love with Alfredo are over.

He arrives and they have an ecstatic reunion. Their love is stronger than ever and they declare their intention of leaving Paris forever. But all this emotion is too much for Violetta and she collapses. Alfredo, looking at her closely for the first time, realises the terrible truth that she is dying. She tries to pretend that this is not so by getting up and dressing, but she is too weak and falls to the floor, crying out bitterly against the cruel fate of dying so young just when her hopes had been about to be fulfilled.

Germont arrives with the doctor, ready to embrace her as a daughter. When he too realises her real condition he is struck by remorse at having caused her so much unhappiness. She gives Alfredo a portrait of herself as a keepsake and tells him to marry some pure young girl and be happy. She rises to her feet, feeling a strange new strength, but it is only the last remission of her illness which precedes death. She collapses lifeless, surrounded by those she holds dearest in the world.