Editing La traviata (section)

===Composing for Venice===
[[File:Francesco_Maria_Piave_-_Granger.jpg|thumb|Francesco Maria Piave, librettist of the opera]]
[[Francesco Maria Piave]] was engaged to write the new libretto and the two men tried to come up with a suitable subject, but the composer complained that his librettist "had not yet offered him an 'original' or 'provocative' idea". Writing to Piave, he added that "I don't want any of those everyday subjects that one can find by the hundreds."<ref>Verdi to Piave, 26 July 1852, in {{harvnb|Phillips-Matz|1993|p=318}}</ref> But at the same time, the composer expressed concern about censorship in Venice, something with which he was very familiar after his dealings with the censors concerning ''Rigoletto''. As the months dragged on into October, it was agreed that Piave would come to Sant'Agata (Verdi's home near [[Busseto]]) and work with the composer. One subject was chosen, Piave set to work, and then Verdi threw in another idea, which may have been ''La traviata''. Within a short time, a synopsis was dispatched to Venice under the title of ''Amore e morte'' (''Love and Death'').{{sfn|Budden|1992|pp=116–117}} However, Verdi wrote to his friend De Sanctis telling him that "for Venice I'm doing ''La Dame aux camélias'' which will probably be called ''La traviata''. A subject for our own age."<ref>Verdi to De Sanctis, 1 January 1853, in {{harvnb|Budden|1992|p=116}}</ref> Although still bogged down at Sant'Agata, Piave was sanguine: "Everything will turn out fine, and we'll have a new masterpiece from this true wizard of modern harmonies".<ref name="PM">Piave to Carlo Marzari at La Fenice announcing that the libretto was complete, 20 October 1852, in {{harvnb|Phillips-Matz|1993|pp=319–324}}</ref>

When back at Sant'Agata in late January 1853 Verdi was reminded that his contract called for him to be in Venice within a week or two and for the premiere to be held on the "first Saturday in March 1853".{{sfn|Phillips-Matz|1993|p=318}} However, it soon became clear that a modern-dress staging of the new opera was impossible—the requirement was that it should be set in the 17th century "in the era of [[Cardinal Richelieu|Richelieu]]"—and reports from the opening of the season confirmed the limitations of the chosen soprano, the 38-year-old [[Fanny Salvini-Donatelli]] for taking the role of Violetta. Verdi was distraught, for he held on to the notion that the opera could be staged in modern dress—as ''[[Stiffelio]]'' had been done—Piave was sent back to Sant'Agata to no avail: he could not persuade the composer to back down on his insistence that another soprano be secured, yet the 15 January deadline for securing one had come and gone. Verdi was filled with premonitions of disaster upon his arrival in Venice on 21 February for rehearsals and he made his unhappiness clear to the singers.<ref name="PM" />