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    The Metropolitan Opera Presents: Puccini's La Boheme: The Complete Libretto
    The Metropolitan Opera Presents: Puccini's La Boheme: The Complete Libretto
    The Metropolitan Opera Presents: Puccini's La Boheme: The Complete Libretto
    Ebook238 pages1 hour

    The Metropolitan Opera Presents: Puccini's La Boheme: The Complete Libretto

    By Giacomo Puccini and Luigi Illica

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    About this ebook

    There's a reason La Bohème has been staged at the Met more often than any other opera: Puccini's enticing music perfectly conveys the enchantment of new young love and the anguish that comes with loss and death. La Bohème, the passionate and timeless story of love among impoverished young artists in Paris, can stake its claim as the world's most popular opera. It has a marvelous ability to make a powerful first impression (even on those new to opera) and to reveal unexpected treasures after dozens of hearings. At first glance, La Bohème is the definitive depiction of the joys and sorrows of love and loss; on closer inspection, it reveals the deep emotional significance hidden in the trivial things (a bonnet, an old overcoat, a chance meeting with a neighbor) that make up our everyday lives. This touching story of tenderness and tragedy never fails to move audiences and melt hearts.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRowmanLittlefield
    Release dateMar 1, 2003
    ISBN9781574674569
    The Metropolitan Opera Presents: Puccini's La Boheme: The Complete Libretto

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      Book preview

      The Metropolitan Opera Presents - Giacomo Puccini

      Copyright © 2014 The Metropolitan Opera

      All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, without written permission, except by a newspaper or magazine reviewer who wishes to quote brief passages in connection with a review.

      Published in 2014 by Amadeus Press

      An Imprint of Hal Leonard Corporation

      7777 West Bluemound Road

      Milwaukee, WI 53213

      Trade Book Division Editorial Offices

      33 Plymouth St., Montclair, NJ 07042

      English translation of libretto copyright © 1994 and 2004 by Leyerle Publications, 28 Stanley Street, Mt. Morris, New York 14510. English translation by Nico Castel. Originally published by Leyerle Publications as part of The Complete Puccini Libretti, in two volumes. These publications, and others in the Leyerle Opera Libretti series, are available directly from Leyerle’s website at www.leyerlepublications.com.

      Printed in the United States of America

      Book design by Mark Lerner

      Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available upon request.

      www.amadeuspress.com

      Contents

      Introduction by Peter Gelb

      Synopsis

      In Focus by William Berger

      Program Note by William Livingstone

      LA BOHÈME

      Notes

      Photographs

      Introduction

      Four years after its 1896 world premiere in Turin, the Met first presented La Bohème while on tour in Los Angeles, with the great Nellie Melba as Mimì. For the next 58 years, the opera never left the repertoire, and since then there have only been a handful of seasons when it was not performed—making it the most frequently staged work in the history of our company. La Bohème’s moving story of tragic young love and its colorful Parisian setting have been seen in five different Met productions, perhaps most memorably in Franco Zeffirelli’s legendary staging. With some of the best-known arias in the repertoire, the opera has served as the debut vehicle for some of the Met’s greatest singers: Jussi Björling, Jarmila Novotna, Dorothy Kirsten, Mirella Freni, Luciano Pavarotti, Ileana Cotrubas, and, more recently, Angela Gheorghiu, Roberto Alagna, and Vittorio Grigolo are just a few of the artists who made their first appearances on the Met stage in Puccini’s masterpiece. La Bohème also inaugurated the series of Live from the Met telecasts on PBS in 1977.

      With this second volume of the Metropolitan Opera Presents series, we aim to provide readers with a complete introduction to this much-loved opera. In the pages that follow, you will find the full libretto, a synopsis, a detailed program note with historical and musicological background, and the In Focus article we include in the Met’s house program every night—a brief summary of the essentials on a given opera and its creators that is easy to take in just before the performance starts. Also included is a selection of photographs from the Met Archives, featuring some of the extraordinary artists heard and seen in La Bohème throughout its 114-year history at the Met. Whether you experience La Bohème at the opera house, as part of our Live in HD movie-theater transmissions or radio broadcasts, or as a web stream, we hope this book will give you all the information you need to enjoy and appreciate one of opera’s greatest works.

      Peter Gelb

      General Manager

      Metropolitan Opera

      To learn more about Met productions, Live in HD movie-theater transmissions, Met membership, and more, visit metopera.org.

      La Bohème had its Met premiere on tour in Los Angeles in November 1900. A few weeks later, on December 26, it was first seen at the opera house in New York.

      Metropolitan Opera Archives

      Synopsis

      Act I

      Paris in the 1830s. In their Latin Quarter garret, the near-destitute artist Marcello and poet Rodolfo try to keep warm on Christmas Eve by feeding the stove with pages from Rodolfo’s latest drama. They are soon joined by their roommates—Colline, a young philosopher, and Schaunard, a musician, who brings food, fuel, and funds he has collected from an eccentric student. While they celebrate their unexpected fortune, the landlord, Benoit, comes to collect the rent. Plying the older man with wine, they urge him to tell of his flirtations, then throw him out in mock indignation at his infidelity to his wife. As his friends depart to celebrate at the Café Momus, Rodolfo promises to join them later, remaining behind to try to write. There is another knock at the door; the visitor is a pretty neighbor, Mimì, whose candle has gone out on the drafty stairway. No sooner does she enter than the girl feels faint; after reviving her with a sip of wine, Rodolfo helps her to the door and relights her candle. Mimì realizes she lost her key when she fainted, and as the two search for it, both candles are blown out. In the darkness, Rodolfo finds the key and slips it into his pocket. In the moonlight, the poet takes the girl’s shivering hand, telling her his dreams. She then recounts her life alone in a lofty garret, embroidering flowers and waiting for the spring. Rodolfo’s friends are heard outside, urging him to join them; he calls back that he is not alone and will be along shortly. Expressing their joy in finding each other, Mimì and Rodolfo embrace and slowly leave, arm in arm, for the café.

      Act II

      Amid the shouts of street hawkers, Rodolfo buys Mimì a bonnet near the Café Momus and then introduces her to his friends; they all sit down and order supper. The toy vendor Parpignol passes by, besieged by eager children. Marcello’s former sweetheart, Musetta, makes a noisy entrance on the arm of the elderly but wealthy Alcindoro. The ensuing tumult reaches its peak when, trying to regain Marcello’s attention, Musetta sings a waltz about her popularity. She complains that her shoe pinches, sending Alcindoro off to fetch a new pair. The moment he is gone, she falls into Marcello’s arms and tells the waiter to charge everything to Alcindoro. Soldiers march by the café, and as the Bohemians fall in behind, Alcindoro rushes back with Musetta’s shoes.

      Act III

      At dawn on the snowy outskirts of Paris, a customs official admits farm women to the city. Merrymakers are heard within a tavern. Soon Mimì wanders in, searching for the place where Marcello and Musetta now live. When the painter emerges, she tells him of her distress over Rodolfo’s incessant jealousy. She says she believes it is best that they part. Rodolfo, who has been asleep in the tavern, wakes and comes outside. Mimì hides nearby, though Marcello thinks she has gone. The poet first tells Marcello that he wants to separate from his sweetheart, citing her fickleness; pressed for the real reason, he breaks down, saying that her coughing can only grow worse in the poverty they share. Overcome with tears, Mimì stumbles forward to bid her lover farewell as Marcello runs back into the tavern upon hearing Musetta’s laughter. While Mimì and Rodolfo recall past happiness, Musetta dashes out of the inn, quarreling with Marcello, who has caught her flirting. The painter and his mistress part, hurling insults at each other, but Mimì and Rodolfo decide to remain together until spring.

      Act IV

      It is several months later. Now separated from their girlfriends, Rodolfo and Marcello lament their loneliness in the garret. Colline and Schaunard bring a meager meal; to lighten their spirits, the four stage a dance, which turns into a mock duel. At the height of the hilarity, Musetta bursts in to tell them that Mimì is outside, too weak to come upstairs. As Rodolfo runs to her aid, Musetta

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