Compare and Contrast: La Traviata, Die Walkure, and Wozzeck

La traviata, Die Walküre, and Wozzeck are all operas. Two of them, La traviata and Die Walküre, were composed in the Romantic era by Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901) and Richard Wagner (1813-1883) respectively, whereas the opera Wozzeck was composed in the Modern era by Second Viennese School member Alban Berg (1885-1935). Both Die Walküre and Wozzeck are very similar operas despite being composed in different time periods, and both differ greatly from Verdi’s La traviata. 

La traviata, like many of Verdi’s operas, was inspired by a novel and play by Alexandre Dumas titled La dame aux camélias (The Lady of the Camellias), which, through Verdi’s musical setting, has gained immense popularity. The name La traviata translates to “The Lost One,” and is in Italian. The librettist is Francesco Maria Piave, who was additionally the librettist for nine other Verdi operas besides this one. Whereas Verdi draws inspiration from Shakespeare as well as contemporary leading writers from Verdi’s time, Wagner draws inspiration from Norse mythology and Celtic legends. This is certainly the case in Die Walküre, which was inspired by a fusion of Norse mythology and a collection of epic medieval poems called the Nibelunglied. Wagner was also one of the few composers of his day to write his own librettos, which he also did for this opera. Die Walküre is the second of four operas in a collection of operas entitled Der Ring des Nibelungen (The Ring of the Nibelung). The name Die Walküre translates to “The Valkyrie,” and is in German. Berg’s opera, however, was inspired by Georg Büchner’s play Woyzeck, the libretto of which was based on fifteen of this play’s scenes and prepared by Berg himself (much like Verdi’s, which was also inspired by a novel/play). Wozzeck is an Expressionist opera as well, and is also in German, similar to Die Walküre. All operas are in three acts, with Berg’s opera having five scenes in each act.

La traviata is set in 19th-century Paris, where Violetta Valéry, a courtesan, finds spiritual refuge from her tuberculosis in her love for a young aristocrat named Alfredo Germont. Unfortunately, Violetta succumbs too early to her illness for their love to be of any effect. Key themes of this opera include love, sacrifice, societal judgment, and redemption, with an emphasis on personal and romantic tragedy. In contrast to the simplicity of the plot in Verdi’s opera, the plot of Wagner’s opera is much longer and more complex. In Die Walküre specifically, the plot revolves around the hero Siegmund and his sister Sieglinde, who fall in love with each other, unaware that they were actually siblings. Their story mingles with the valkyrie Brünnhilde, who directly disobeys his father Wotan’s (ruler of the gods) command in order to save Siegmund in his battle against Hunding (Sieglinde’s loveless husband and Siegmund’s enemy). Wotan punishes her by putting her to sleep, surrounded by a ring of fire that eventually only a true hero will cross to save her. That hero will soon be Siegfried, the son of Siegmund and Siegfried. Key themes in this opera include divine intervention, fate, power, destiny, familial conflict, heroism, and the struggle between personal desires and cosmic forces. In Berg’s Wozzeck, Wozzeck, a soldier, is subjected to the Captain’s taunts and the Doctor’s dietary experiments. Furthermore, his feebleness is only exacerbated when he suspects his wife Marie of her infidelity. This is confirmed when he sees her gold earrings, which proves her relationship with the Drum Major. The Drum Major humiliates him by boasting about his conquests and beats Wozzeck up. When Wozzeck meets her wife at the pond, he stabs her to death under the light of a blood-red moon. His patrons notice his blood-stained hands, and he returns to the pond to search for his knife for fear that bathers may find it. In doing so, he drowns. Their sole surviving son plays with a hobby-horse in the final scene and learns about his parents’ death. While the other children rush to see the bodies, the son remains alone on stage. Key themes in this opera include social injustice, mental illness, and existential despair, with a focus on the dehumanizing effects of poverty and exploitation. 

La traviata follows a typical “numbers” approach that is characteristic of the Italian operatic tradition where the overture (or prelude) is followed by a series of arias, recitatives, choruses, and ensembles that alternate to provide variety. By comparison, both Die Walküre and Wozzeck feature a structure that is often unconventional: Wagner’s opera is an example of Gesamtkunstwerk, or “total art work,” a concept developed by Wagner himself and requires the perfect union of music, text, and stagecraft, and features long, protracted scenes with on character confronting another; while Wozzeck demonstrates Berg’s fascination with traditional Classical forms and his carefulness when it comes to his craftsmanship in the planning and integration of dramatic development with musical design. La traviata focuses on bel canto: a 19th century Italian style of singing that focuses on purity of tone and agility. This is evidenced by the many rich and expressive melodic lines, arias, and duets throughout the opera, for example, the extended recitative-aria at the close of Act 1 as well as the bel canto melody at the close of Act 2. Verdi’s use of aria and recitative heightens the emotional depth and drama. Die Walküre, on the other hand, relies on the use of Leitmotifs (musical fragments/themes that have symbolic meaning, usually associated with a particular character/concept) and lush orchestration to enhance the drama and create an immersive, mythic atmosphere. Wozzeck stands on its own, however: its atonality and Expressionist elements set it apart, reflecting the protagonist’s plight and portraying the world as antagonist. Verdi’s opera also accurately depicts the attitudes of 19th-century Parisian society towards women like Violetta and their profession of love. Meanwhile, Wagner’s opera is an epic narrative focusing on familial conflicts as well as cosmic and power struggles, while Berg’s opera intensely focuses on deeply human psychological themes such as mental health and isolation, breaking apart from the traditional operatic format.

All three works represent a high point in their respective styles and time periods. Both La traviata and Die Walküre represent the peak of Romanticism, while Wozzeck represents the climax of Expressionism, all doing so whilst having different musical designs and utilizing different compositional techniques. The operas all focus on different aspects and themes: La traviata focuses on emotional depth and expression through fluid melodic lines, Die Walküre emphasizes a monumental, mythical approach to writing opera, and Wozzeck stresses on dissonant, disjunct music and its portrayal of societal and psychological issues.