Soprano Stacey Alleaume takes her character research seriously. Preparing for the role of Violetta Valéry, the doomed protagonist of La traviata, she took to the roads of Northern France to visit the towns and villages where the real-life inspiration for Violetta – the courtesan Marie Duplessis – grew up. 

In those small towns and quiet streets, far from the gilded Parisian salons that made Duplessis famous, Alleaume says she came understand “who Marie was before she became a myth.”

Stacey Alleaume in the Regent Theatre, Melbourne. Photo © Eugene Hyland

“We always imagine her as a glamorous courtesan, but Marie Duplessis came from real poverty. Walking through those towns – and some of them haven’t changed a lot – you feel the distance she travelled – socially and emotionally – and the cost of that transformation. Being there and feeling the atmosphere, seeing where she came from. It gives you a different kind of connection. It’s something you can’t quite get any other way.”

During the trip, Allueame also visited a museum in Gacé dedicated to Duplessis. “There were some fascinating artefacts – items with her initials, even a coronet from when...