"La traviata" is one of the most popular operas in the world, and anyone can hum the toast "Libiamo" ("Let us drink") from its first act. Polish cinemagoers will see this unquestionable tearjerker straight from the famous Arena di Verona. The new 2021 production of "The Stray"—as the title translates—features international opera stars: the magnificent Bulgarian soprano Sonya Yoncheva and the feisty Italian tenor Vittorio Grigolo, who made his debut at the age of 13 alongside Luciano Pavarotti. The plot of Verdi's opera is based on the famous romance "The Lady of the Camellias" by Alexandre Dumas fils. It is the moving story of the dying Violetta, a French courtesan who, for the love of her beloved Alfred, a young man from high society, is willing to sacrifice her final moments of happiness. It's hard to believe today, but the opera's premiere in 1853 was a complete flop. Audiences were dissatisfied with the composer's choice of a contemporary figure as the main character, a fallen woman at that, who, in a world of bourgeois hypocrisy, proved to be the only honest and noble person. The Verona performance was shifted 30 years in the future, to the Belle Époque, specifically to the period of the 1889 Paris Universal Exhibition. Traditional sets and costumes were combined with modern technology. Painted masterpieces from the renowned Uffizi Gallery in Florence were projected onto giant screens measuring over 400 square meters.