Opera is a vital art with a twist (2,8)
I believe the answer is:
la traviata
'opera' is the definition.
(Verdi opera)
'a vital art with a twist' is the wordplay.
'with' says to put letters next to each other.
'twist' is an anagram indicator (a twisted or distorted version of the letters).
'a'+'vital'+'art'+'a'='avitalarta'
'avitalarta' anagrammed gives 'LA TRAVIATA'.
'is' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for la traviata that I've seen before include "Verdi opera" , "work" , "Verdi's Dumas opera" .)