Giuseppe Verdi’s opera featuring the courtesan Violetta Valéry and the aria “Sempre libera” is La traviata.
Verdi based the opera on Alexandre Dumas fils’s novel and play La Dame aux camélias. Francesco Maria Piave wrote the Italian libretto. The story follows Violetta, a celebrated Parisian courtesan, and her relationship with Alfredo Germont, whose father asks her to sacrifice their happiness to protect the family’s reputation.
La traviata premiered at Venice’s Teatro La Fenice on 6 March 1853. Its first production was unsuccessful, partly because the casting and staging did not convince the audience, but later performances established the opera as a repertory classic.
“Sempre libera” appears near the end of Act I, when Violetta struggles between her attraction to Alfredo and her former independent life. The title means “The Fallen Woman,” although productions often use the Italian title. It is not the same story as Verdi’s Rigoletto or his later comedy Falstaff.