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The young Count René marries the young girl, Suzon. She has no idea that the marriage is invalid and signed by a drunken lackey. Theater director Scaramouche discovers the deception and wants to take advantage of the situation. He gets a notary to sign the marriage contract and offers it to Suzon – he will demand payment later. René confesses that the marriage was invalid, but that he actually loves Suzon. Suzon just thinks he wants to test her, because she just saw the valid document. When the Marquis d'Argenville, one of René's friends, preys on Suzon, René challenges him to a duel. René demands silence from his friends about the deception, but Suzon has heard the whole thing. The king arrives, calls off the duel and demands to see the bride, to whom he has first right on the wedding night. René defends himself, and Scaramouche's wife is revealed to be Suzon. The king is immediately very smitten by her – much to Scaramouche's chagrin. Suzon reveals that she knows all about René's deception and tears up the marriage contract. However, René manages to convince her of his real intentions, and they reconcile.

Freedom or love? Verdi wrote the opera La Traviata in 1853 , based on Alexandre Dumas' novel The Lady of the Camellias about the courtesan Marie Duplessis. The novel, as well as Verdi's opera, has since been the basis for many interpretations, such as the films Pretty Woman and Moulin Rouge, as well as a long series of ballets, novels and plays. The woman's decline and her apparent lack of moral compass have always fascinated.

“To be faithful to only one woman is the same as being unfaithful to all the others!” So ​​sings Don Juan. All other things being equal, it is a statement that one can mull over a bit, and has been doing so since 1787, when Mozart and his librettist Lorenzo da Ponte premiered Don Juan . The opera tells the myth of one of the most debated men in the history of music and literature; is he the ultimate man of action or an outdated charlatan? Is it a cheerful comedy, as Mozart himself called it? Or has it become a tragedy about human decadence, sin and penance, with the view of posterity on the work? In addition to the opera's fantastic music, it is a work that has taken a firm hold on society's view of humanity and our self-understanding. Don Juan was an unequivocal success when it premiered in Prague, and for almost 240 years has been one of the most beloved and performed operas worldwide.