Maria Callas as Violetta Valéry in the legendary 1955...

Maria Callas as Violetta Valéry in the legendary 1955 Visconti production of La Traviata for the Teatro alla Scala. Back then, the director was critizised for disfiguring and defiling Verdi’s opera. The soprano kicking her shoes in the air before the end of the first act? A scandal! Callas dying on her feet, with her hat and coat on? An insult to Verdi! Ironically enough, this production of La Traviatabecame not only a legend, but also a sort of curse for those directors, conductors and singers who dared to put this opera on stage at La Scala. Karajan and Zeffirelli, for example, failed spectacularly in 1965. After that, and for almost thirty years (until 1990), nobody at La Scala defied the non-written taboo.