Willy Decker, the director of
the performance, interprets the familiar story quite freely, creating a surreal, timeless, and emotionally stark picture. Stage designer Wolfgang Gussmann blends three colors that play key roles in the plot: white — the color of the camellia, a symbol of transience; red — the sensuality of Violetta; black — the strict conventions of the bourgeois world. Violetta's red dress against the black-and-white background of the semi-circular stage, three outstanding performers — Anna Netrebko, Rolando Villazón, and Thomas Hampson, the chorus-crowd, and the large round clock — a symbol of the uncompromising passage of time. These images have become true icons and will forever be etched into the history of world theatre.