Violetta Valéry—her name is elegance itself. Roger Pines, dramaturg of Lyric Opera of Chicago, writes about La Traviata’s beloved heroin.

The curtain has yet to rise, but Cincinnati Opera’s 2018 season is well underway. About two dozen singers arrived earlier this month for their first rehearsals. Cincinnati writer Cindy Starr sits in on chorus rehearsal for La Traviata.

Look into her eyes and what do you see? Fearlessness? Fragility? Resilience? Mistrust? Cincinnati writer Cindy Starr takes a look behind this season’s portrait of La Traviata by illustrator Tim O’Brien.