La Traviata – Opéra national de Paris

Pleasure but not love: this is the rule the heroine of La Traviata soon understands, when instructed by the self-righteous to stay in her place.

For Australian director Simon Stone, adept at repositioning works in our everyday lives, Violetta Valéry is not a courtesan who sells her body, as in the time of Alexandre Dumas fils, whose La Dame aux camélias inspired Giuseppe Verdi's opera.

She is a social networking diva who sells her image through selfies and likes. But this hyper-connected world does not save the lovely young woman, just as in the 19th century, from having to sacrifice her love for Alfredo on the altar of morality.

This contemporary reading is in keeping with Verdi's intentions, who, while composing feverish, virtuoso music, criticises the brutality of a society of appearances, a machine for crushing individuals. Especially when these individuals are women who aspire to freedom.