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La traviata is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi set to an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave. It takes as its basis the novel La dame aux Camélias by Alexandre Dumas, fils, published in 1848. It was first performed at the Teatro la Fenice in Venice, on March 6, 1853. The title "La traviata" means literally The Woman Who Strayed, or perhaps more figuratively, The fallen One, an allegorical reference to the fallen angel, "Satan". The opera is immensely popular; according to Opera America, La traviata is the third most performed opera in North America, behind only Madama Butterfly and La bohème.