show category: opera

Opera in four acts (libretto by Giuseppe Giacosa & Luigi Illica, based on Henry Murger’s Scènes de la vie de bohème)

Recommended Age: 7+

The combination of love, tenderness and sacrifice spirit found between the young Mimì and Rodolfo, or, on the other hand, of love, jealousy and extravagance that keep Musetta and Marcello together, but also the comical situations centred around Benoit – the owner of the garret where the four artists live –, or around Alcindoro – the funny, but rich, old man who accompanies Musetta – are all revealed by charming sonorities, expressive melodies and perfectly-adapted dynamics. The tragic death of the heroine is simply emphasising the verist essence of the opera. In spite of the misery they face in everyday’s life, these four friends – Marcello the painter, Rodolfo the poet, Schaunard the musician and Colline the philosopher – stick together until the end!

It’s all about Puccini’s La bohème, inspired by Henry Murger’s La vie de bohème novel, which renders a chapter of the four artists’ ,,terrible and jolly life”, and relies on autobiographical facts.

Albeit at its premiere, held on February 1st 1896 under Arturo Toscanini’s baton on La Fenice Theatre’s stage in Venice, the music critic Carlo Bersezio argued that, most probably, the interest for Puccini’s La bohème will not last much longer, the charming opera will conquer the entire Italian peninsula, but also Buenos Aires, Alexandria, Lisbon, Moscow and London (at Royal Opera House), achieving a worldwide success.

The performance has three intermissions and ends at around 9.30 p.m.