About La bohème
graduation piece, the Capriccio sinfonico, into the opening bars of the new opera. The specifics of the libretto became a hot issue as the project evolved, and the first drafts of the opera also bear little resemblance to what we understand to be La bohème today. Originally it was to begin with the present Act II setting in the Latin Quarter, but early on it was conceived to both open and close in the artists’ garret, giving the piece a certain degree of unity. Greater roles were assigned to Colline and Schaunard, the latter being given his own Act IV aria about the capriciousness of women. One of the greatest changes was the deletion of an entire act set in the courtyard of Musetta’s lodgings – bringing threats of resignation by the librettists who were retained only by the cool handling of Ricordi. The scene in question involves the eviction of Musetta on the day she has planned a party. As her furniture is removed, the Bohemians decide to have the soirée out front. The scene has little continuity with any other part of the opera except that it is here Mimì meets the ethereal Vicomte while she is dressed in one of Musetta’s gowns. Her flirting and eventual departure with the young nobleman leaves Rodolfo in a jealous frenzy and gives credence to his later denunciations in Act III. Puccini wished that Mimì’s character remain untarnished, a femme fragile in direct opposition to Musetta’s femme fatale. He got his way, though some dramatic issues remain unresolved. With Rodolfo’s now-unsubstantiated declarations of Mimì’s infidelity in Act III, the Vicomte receives a casual, unprepared reference in Act IV as Mimì’s live-in companion after her split with Rodolfo. Act IV also posed some problems, and here the librettists carried the day. Puccini wanted to open with Mimì on her deathbed, but Illica and Giacosa feared this bore too close a resemblance to the final scene of La traviata. Their suggestions of a political dialogue for Schaunard and a brindisi toasting the Water Drinkers (a pseudo-Freemasonesque group Murger had sponsored for those too poor to drink wine) were fused into the Bohemian’s hijinks just prior to Mimì’s arrival. Further continuity was drawn between Act I and Act IV by opening them similarly – with Rodolfo and Marcello alone together in their garret dwelling, bemoaning their current condition, first without heat, later without women. The end product is a truly remarkable work. Out of enough material, as Illica quipped, “for 10 operas,” Puccini crafted a surprisingly concise score, complete with short recurrent melodic references (though not nearly as codified as Wagner) and a brilliant use of the orchestral palette. Equally impressive is his handling of side-byside comedy and pathos – something not easily achieved – and his ease in carrying us from one emotion to the other. In contrast, with its closer adherence to the original material, Leoncavallo’s opera is weighted by the overall tragedy and its adaptation to more traditional operatic formulas, leading to its virtual eclipse some 10 years after the premiere. Puccini won the day, as the popularity of his La bohème continues to hold true.
Henry Murger and His Circle Bohemia was seen as a passage for any serious artist in their 20s who sought to make a name for themselves.
La vie bohémienne is a phenomenon not unique to the Latin Quarter of 19th-century Paris. Its timelessness is evidenced throughout history, from the Moulin Rouge of late 19th-century France and early 20th-century Weimarera Berlin, New York’s Greenwich Village and Harlem Renaissance, the Beat Generation of the 1950s and Andy Warhol’s Pop Art Factory, to Europe’s nomadic gypsies living a marginal existence, their origins lending the lifestyle its descriptive name. The vogue for Bohemianism