La traviata is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi with a libretto by Francesco Maria Piave. It is based on The Lady of the Camellias, a play by Alexandre Dumas fils, which the author adapted from his earlier novel of the same name.

It is considered part of a so-called "popular trilogy" by Verdi, along with Il trovatore and Rigoletto.

It was partly composed at the Ricordi publishers' villa in Cadenabbia, on Lake Como. The first performance took place at the Teatro La Fenice on March 6, 1853, but, perhaps due to inadequate performers and—possibly—the subject matter, which was then considered scabrous, it did not prove to be the success its author had hoped. It was revived on May 6 of the following year in Venice at the Teatro San Benedetto in a revised version with more capable performers, including Maria Spezia Aldighieri, and finally, conducted by the composer, it achieved the success it deserved.

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