Humanities & Social Sciences 1 (2016 9) 107-116 ~ ~ ~ УДК 782.1 G. Verdi’s “La Traviata”: History of Creation, First Productions and Stage Interpretation of the Character of Violetta Vera P. Baranova and Svetlana G. Voitkevich* Krasnoyarsk State Institute of Art 22 Lenin Str., Krasnoyarsk, 660049, Russia Received 19.04.2015, received in revised form 26.07.2015, accepted 15.09.2015 The article dedicated to one of the most famous operas of the world repertoire – “La Traviata” by G. Verdi, was written by an opera singer who has been singing Violetta’s part on the stages of Russia and the world for more than 20 years, and a musicologist – a specialist in the fi eld of operatic drama. <...> The authors study the attitude of the composer to the current state of the Italian theatre and the reasons that prompted him to turn to the story of the drama by Alexandre Dumas. <...> The authors also note peculiarities of the interpretation of the title role of the opera “La Traviata” played by Maria Callas and Anna Netrebko, whose interpretations were justifi ed, masterfully crafted and brilliantly realized. <...> The article accentuates the main vocal and dramatic complexity of interpretation of the character of Violetta and ways to overcome it. <...> Most often, in this regard, a letter from Verdi to Emanuele Muzio (his only student and assistant) is cited: “Dear Emanuele, La Traviata last night, fi asco. <...> All rights reserved * Corresponding author E-mail address: vsg.music@gmail.com # 107 # letter of the same day to Giovanni Ricordi the composer writes about “the need to give the sad news. <...> Verdi used the same restrained phrases about a “solid fi asco” of the new musical drama in his letters to Vincenzo Lukardi and Cesare De Sanctis. <...> However, a year later, La Traviata was staged at another Venetian Theatre, San Benedetto, and Vera P. Baranova and Svetlana G. Voitkevich. <...> He watched performances and learnt, for example, that La Traviata was going to be staged in Naples and, in this regard, sceptically wrote to Cesare Sanctis on November 29, 1854: “I do not want Rigoletto and La Traviata to be staged in Naples. <...> In 1857, Verdi’s Simon Boccanegra fails at Teatro La Fenice, on which he <...>