Sofia Coppola's La Traviata opens at Rome opera house

The star appeal of Coppola and Valentino has paid off for the beleaguered Rome opera house – long overshadowed by La Scala in Milan – which has made €1.2m (£0.9m) in ticket sales already, making La Traviata the venue’s highest grossing opera before the curtain has even risen.

Sofia Coppola’s La Traviata will open at the Opera of Rome on Sunday in a production featuring costumes made and designed by Valentino with backdrops created by Nathan Crowley, the set designer for the Batman films.

She said: “My great uncle has conducted La Traviata so he sat down and spoke to me a lot – I felt lucky to have this culture in my family.”