Zeffirelli's La traviata – starring Teresa Stratas and Plácido Domingo

Franco Zeffirelli's productions of the Italian operatic classics were a byword for visual beauty and attention to detail, and the New York Metropolitan Opera continues to stand alone for the quality of its casting. They come together in this 1982 film of Verdi's La traviata, directed by Zeffirelli and recorded with the Met's world-class company. Zeffirelli's sumptuous, period-appropriate evocation of 19th-century Paris provides a truly opulent setting for Teresa Stratas's performance as Violetta, the doomed society hostess, and Placido Domingo as Alfredo, her lover. Two great singers in signature roles, vividly captured in a rare opera film that possesses all the passion and immediacy of a great theatrical occasion.

Soloists: 

Plácido Domingo (Tenor), Teresa Stratas (Soprano), Cornell MacNeil (Baritone)

Ensembles: 

Metropolitan Opera Chorus, Metropolitan Opera Orchestra

Conductor: 

James Levine