On July 25, 1942, Verdi’s famous opera La Traviata was staged for the first time in the Albanian capital.

The Italian artistic company Carro di Tespi Lirico brought Giuseppe Verdi’s opera to Tirana.

In 1929, the Fascist government in Rome established four traveling theater troupes, known as Carri di Tespi (“The Carts of Thespis”). Carro di Tespi Lirico focused on opera and lyrical music. The other three companies staged theatrical plays. These groups aimed to bring theater and opera to even the most remote layers of society.

In addition to La Traviata, Carro di Tespi Lirico performed several other productions in July 1942. This event likely marked the first staging of a lyrical opera in Albania.

The stage was set at the top of Viale del Impero (today “Dëshmorët e Kombit” Boulevard), near the present-day Mother Teresa Square.

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