OVERTURE OPERA GUIDES in association with We are delighted to have the opportunity to work with Overture Publishing on this series of opera guides and to build on the work English National Opera did over twenty years ago with the Calder Opera Guide Series. As well as reworking and updating existing titles, Overture and ENO have commissioned new titles for the series and all of the guides will be published to coincide with the repertory being staged by the company. We hope that these guides will prove an invaluable resource now and for years to come, and that by delving deeper into the history of an opera, the libretto and the nuances of the score, readers’ understanding and appreciation of the opera and the art form in general will be enhanced. Daniel Kramer Artistic Director, ENO The publisher John Calder began the Opera Guides series under the editorship of the late Nicholas John in associa- tion with English National Opera in 1980. It ran until 1994 and eventually included forty-eight titles, covering fifty-eight operas. The books in the series were intended to be companions to the works that make up the core of the operatic repertory. They contained articles, illustrations, musical examples and a complete libretto and singing translation of each opera in the series, as well as bibliographies and discographies. The aim of the present relaunched series is to make available again the guides already published in a redesigned format with new illustrations, revised and newly commissioned articles, up- dated reference sections and a literal translation of the libretto that will enable the reader to get closer to the meaning of the original. New guides of operas not already covered will be pub- lished alongside the redesigned ones from the old series. Gary Kahn Series Editor Sponsors of the Overture Opera Guides for the 2010/11 Season at ENO Ian and Catherine Ferguson Frank and Lorna Dunphy Eric Adler and Richard Everall are gratefully acknowledged for their assistance in the 2018 reprint of this volume La bohème Giacomo Puccini Overture Opera Guides Series Editor Gary Kahn Editorial Consultant Philip Reed OP OVERTURE OVERTURE OPERA GUIDES in association with Overture Publishing an imprint of ALMA BOOKS LTD 3 Castle Yard Richmond Surrey TW10 6TF United Kingdom The articles by William Ashbrook, Nicholas John, Edward Greenfield and Joanna Richardson first published by John Calder (Publishers) Ltd in 1982, the article by David Nice first published in this volume, 2018 This La bohème Opera Guide first published by Overture Publishing, an imprint of Oneworld Classics Ltd, 2010. Reprinted 2018 © Alma Books Ltd, 2010, 2018 All rights reserved Translation © William Weaver Reproduced by kind permission of the author Cover image: Fototeca/Leemage/Lebrecht Music & Arts Printed in United Kingdom by CPI Group (UK) Ltd, Croydon CR0 4YY ISBN: 978-0-71454-856-2 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of the publisher. This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not be resold, lent, hired out or otherwise circulated without the express prior consent of the publisher. Contents List of Illustrations 8 Some Aspects of La bohème 9 William Ashbrook Romance and Irony 17 Nicholas John The Music of La bohème 33 Edward Greenfield Henry Murger and ‘la vie de bohème’ 41 Joanna Richardson Period Piece? La bohème on Stage 51 David Nice Thematic Guide 61 La bohème, Libretto 67 Act One 69 Act Two 121 Act Three 169 Act Four 197 Select Discography 233 La bohème on DVD 238 Select Bibliography 242 Puccini Websites 244 Note on the Contributors 245 Acknowledgements 246 List of Illustrations 1. Giacomo Puccini in 1895 (Fototeca/Leemage/Lebrecht Music & Arts) 2. Henry Murger (Lebrecht Authors) 3. Caricature of Puccini, Giuseppe Giacosa and Luigi Illica (Lebrecht Music & Arts) 4. Ricordi poster (RA/Lebrecht Music & Arts) 5. Mimì’s death in Puccini’s score (Lebrecht Music & Arts) 6. Postcard from an early Italian production (Lebrecht Music & Arts) 7. The Bohemians from the first Paris production (Lebrecht Music & Arts) 8. Enrico Caruso (Metropolitan Opera Archives) 9. Nellie Melba (Lebrecht Music & Arts) 10. Beniamino Gigli, with Lucrezia Bori (Metropolitan Opera Archives) 11. Licia Albanese (T.P./Lebrecht Music & Arts) 12. Jussi Björling (Ivan Kyncl/ArenaPAL) 13. Victoria de los Angeles (Erich Auerbach/Getty Images) 14. Thomas Allen (Clive Barda/ArenaPAL) 15. Renata Scotto (Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images) 16. Franco Zeffirelli’s production at Salzburg (Siegfried Lauterwasser) 17. Robert Carsen’s production for Flanders Opera (Annemie Augustijns) 18. Julia Hollander’s production for Mid-Wales Opera (Mid-Wales Opera) 19. Luciano Pavarotti and Mirella Freni (Ron Scherl: Arena Images) 20. José Carreras and Teresa Stratas (Johan Elbers/Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images) 21. Plácido Domingo and Ilona Tokody (Laurie Lewis/Lebrecht Music & Arts) 22. Tito Beltran and Angela Gheorghiu (Tristram Kenton/Lebrecht Music & Arts) 23. Phyllida Lloyd’s production for Opera North (Stephen Vaughan/Opera North) 24. Steven Pimlott’s production at ENO (Ivan Kyncl/ENO Archive) 25. Baz Luhrmann’s Broadway production (Sue Adler/AFP/Getty Images) 26. Ramon Villazón and Anna Netrebko (Axiom Films) 27. Richard Jones and Antony McDonald’s production at Bregenz (Karl Forster) 28. Jonathan Miller’s production at ENO (Laurie Lewis/ENO Archive) 29. Louise Lloyd at the Soho Theatre (Simon Kane) Thematic Guide Themes from the opera have been identified by the numbers in square brackets in the article on the music. These are also printed at corresponding points in the libretto, so that the words can be related to the musical themes. 61 La bohème Opera in four acts by Giacomo Puccini Libretto by Giuseppe Giacosa and Luigi Illica English translation by William Weaver La bohème was first performed at the Teatro Regio, Turin, conducted by Arturo Toscanini on 1st February 1896. It was first performed in Britain by the Carl Rosa Opera Company in Manchester on 22nd April 1897 in English. The first performance in London, also in English, was at the Royal Opera House on 2nd October 1897. The first Italian-language performance at the Royal Opera House was on 1st July 1899. It was first performed in the United States in Los Angeles on 14th October 1897, and then in New York on 16th May 1898. THE CHARACTERS Marcello a painter baritone Rodolfo a poet tenor Colline a philosopher bass Schaunard a musician baritone Benoît a landlord bass Mimì a seamstress soprano Parpignol an itinerant toy-seller tenor Musetta a singer soprano Alcindoro a state councillor bass and admirer of Musetta Customs Sergeant bass Customs official, street vendors, students, townspeople, children and peasants Paris, about 1830 67 ATTO PRIMO In soffitta. Ampia finestra dalla quale si scorge una distesa di tetti coperti di neve. A sinistra, un camino. Una tavola, un letto, un armadietto, una piccola libreria, quattro sedie, un cavalletto da pittore con una tela sbozzata ed uno sgabello: libri sparsi, molti fasci di carte, due candelieri. Uscio nel mezzo, altro a sinistra. [1] Rodolfo guarda meditabondo fuori della finestra. Marcello lavora al suo quadro ‘Il passaggio del Mar Rosso’ con le mani intirizzite dal freddo e che egli riscalda alitandovi su di quando in quando, mutando, pel gran gelo, spesso posizione. MARCELLO (seduto, continuando a dipingere) Questo Mar Rosso – mi ammollisce e assidera come se addosso – mi piovesse in stille. (Si allontana dal cavalletto per guardare il suo quadro.) Per vendicarmi, affogo un Faraon! (Torna al lavoro. A Rodolfo) Che fai? RODOLFO (volgendosi un poco) Nei cieli bigi [2] guardo fumar dai mille comignoli Parigi, (additando il camino senza fuoco) e penso a quel poltrone di un vecchio caminetto ingannatore che vive in ozio come un gran signor! 68 ACT ONE In the garret. A spacious window from which one sees an expanse of snow- clad roofs, on the left a stove. A table, a small cupboard, a little bookcase, four chairs, a picture easel, a bed; a few books, many packs of cards, two candlesticks. A door in the middle; another on the left. [1] Rodolfo looks pensively out of the window. Marcello works at his painting ‘The Passage of the Red Sea’ with hands nipped with cold, and warms them by blowing on them from time to time, often changing position, on account of the frost. MARCELLO (seated, continuing to paint) This ‘Red Sea’ of mine makes me feel cold and numb as if it were pouring over me. (He goes a little way back from the easel to look at the picture.) I’ll drown a Pharaoh in revenge. (He turns to his work.) What are you doing? RODOLFO (turning a little) I’m looking at Paris, [2] seeing the skies grey with smoke from a thousand chimneys, (pointing to the fireless stove) and I think of that no-good, hateful stove of ours that lives a gentleman’s life of idleness. 69 Acknowledgements We would like to thank John Allison of Opera, Charles Johnston, George Hall, Mike Ashman and Simonetta Bigongiari of the Centro Studi Giacomo Puccini, Lucca, for their assistance and advice in preparing this guide. www.overturepublishing.com www.eno.org other titles in the overture opera guides series all at £12.00 Vincenzo Bellini – Norma Georges Bizet – Carmen Benjamin Britten – A Midsummer Night’s Dream Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart – Don Giovanni Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart – Idomeneo Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart – Le nozze di Figaro Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart – Così fan tutte Giacomo Puccini – Tosca Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky – Eugene Onegin Giuseppe Verdi – Rigoletto Giuseppe Verdi – La traviata Giuseppe Verdi – Simon Boccanegra Giuseppe Verdi – Otello Richard Wagner – Der fliegende Holländer Richard Wagner – Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg Richard Wagner – Parsifal www.overturepublishing.com.