It is not surprising that two major opera heroines, Mimi (La Boheme, Puccini) and Violetta (La Traviata, Verdi), succumb to consumption (tuberculosis or TB). Right up until the 1950s, when effective drug treatments were developed, the disease was a worldwide killer. (It still is; tuberculosis is one of the top three fatal diseases, killing an estimated two million people worldwide in 2002, according to WHO figures.)
The accepted symptoms of tuberculosis are:
1. loss of energy
2. poor appetite
3. a dry irritating cough, then wet cough, getting worse over time
4. profuse amounts of phlegm, brought up with each cough
5. coughing blood, if a blood vessel is damaged
6. spasms of wracking continuous coughing
7. weight loss, initially losing weight very slowly
8. a fever which worsens over time
9. night sweats and high temperatures (related to 8)
10. breathlessness (in later stages when lung damage has been sustained).
Both Mimi and Violetta exhibit classic signs of this disease, over quite a considerable space of time. This is the key to a diva dying convincingly; realising that the disease takes time to run its course. Mimi’s decline, for example, can be charted both over time and as the symptoms (listed above) seem to emerge.
(Direct libretto quotes are in “ ”, stage instructions quotes in ‘ ’.)
Acts One and Two: Christmas Eve. She ‘faints’ (1), and only has a pudding to eat (2).
Act Three: ‘a foggy February morning’. Mimi is ‘seized by a violent fit of coughing’ (6). Rodolfo sees her physical decline (7) and notes her cough (3), and “How her pinched cheeks are still flushed” (8/9). He realises his cold room is not helping her condition. Mimi does not fully realise she is dying until she hears Rodolfo describe her symptoms.
Act Four: at least four months later (most probably nearer Christmas, as Musetta can buy a muff and Colline can sell his coat, unlikely in the height of summer…). Mimi cannot make it up the stairs (1 and 10), she feels cold (8 and/or 9). She has a ‘spasm of coughing’ that makes her ‘fall back exhausted’, before slipping into sleep, and oblivion.
For Violetta, it is a similar pattern. We join her in Act One further into her illness (as she holds her party to celebrate her return after a period of convalescence). We also see the devastating effects of the terminal stages in Act Three.
In terms of catching the disease during the 19th century, both poverty and elegant society provided ideal breeding grounds. Whilst the poor suffered from filthy living conditions and hunger, high society women were encouraged to indulge in gentle activity only, and eat little, to preserve their waspish figure. It was not considered ladylike to have a hearty appetite or boundless energy.
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It’s also worth remembering that an early death was nothing unusual. For example, the average life expectancy in 1840, in the Whitechapel district of London, was 45 years for the upper class and 27 years for tradesman. Labourers and servants lived only 22 years on average. (Mitchell, 'Victorian Britain', p.492)
The key for the diva is to hint at the illness first, to be almost unaware of it. 90% of people infected with tuberculosis do not develop symptoms of the disease. So, for both Mimi and Violetta, initially it might just appear they have a mild flu or cold, that persists.
Once the cough develops, this is obviously more serious. Here, the main technical difficulty for a soprano is to preserve the voice whilst coughing convincingly. Would-be dying divas are strongly advised to talk through this with an experienced coach or teacher before rehearsals start, so they know what they can safely do and not do.
Both Violetta’s and Mimi’s deathbeds scenes require the diva to appear very ill indeed. Both characters would probably have extensive lung damage by this stage, so the paradox of this medical condition and singing flat out is another technical hurdle for the diva.
Personally, I favour using the full dynamic range of both voice and breath, allowing some note endings to trail off, or slightly under-supporting a note, so the singer does sound genuinely frail. (Violetta’s letter reading at the start of Act Three is a perfect example of this, the strings muted under her speaking to allow the soprano full reign of expression.) Subtly done, it is devastatingly effective; I’ve seen audiences reaching forward ready to catch Violetta in case she falls, so convincing is her illness.
The aspiring dying diva, with the help of a good director, sensitive conductor and a sympathetic costume designer, can bring a house to its knees with a portrayal of doomed youth and love, cut short by that most operatic of diseases, consumption.
DISCLAIMER: this article is written purely to give ideas to would-be performers of operatic roles. If readers have any medical concerns they should, as always, consult their doctor immediately.
For more information on current tuberculosis issues, visit the World Health Organisation’s TB site at http://www.who.int/gtb or view the WHO fact sheet at
http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs104/en
Kirsty Young
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