City Lyric Opera is set to present Verdi’s “La Traviata.”

CLO’s Artistic and Music Director Michelle Rofrano helms the production from the podium. Rofrano said, “I grew up listening to and loving Giuseppe Verdi’s operas. Over the years I have grown to realize that although there wasn’t vocabulary for it at the time, Verdi was essentially a feminist. He was known for respecting the women in his life as equals and for creating works that feature strong female characters. In ‘La Traviata,’ despite society’s preconceived notions about women whom society deems as ‘morally flawed,’ Verdi writes Violetta as the only truly honorable character in the opera; a woman who deserves love, happiness, and security, but who unfortunately exists in a world that refuses to allow it.”

The opera will reunite Rofrano and Stage Director Rebecca Lee Kratzer, who first worked together on Telemann’s “Don Quichotte” at Camacho’s Wedding at Opera Saratoga in 2021.

The cast is set to include Laura Soto-Bayomi as Violetta, Colin Aikins as Alfredo Germont, and Sejin Park as Germont. “La Traviata” is set to be performed from May 3-6, 2023.