LA BOHEME Student Guide 2012 | Opera Company of Philadelphia

Opera Company of Philadelphia and The School District of Philadelphia Present

Giacomo Puccini’s

LA BOHÈME

Opera

A Family Guide to

The Opera Company of Philadelphia believes the family is the most important foundation to learning. Let your kitchen table become a classroom where your children can build their knowledge of opera and the humanities. As you join in the teaching and learning process with your children, watch their eyes sparkle. Opera is a communal celebration, so too should be your children’s education.

Pennsylvania’s standards in education call for students to demonstrate what they know and are able to do and children need to share what they have discovered or learned. Thus, the title of our program is Sounds of Learning™. It reflects our belief that children must actively be engaged in sharing ideas.

The Sounds of Learning™ workbook and teacher guide will integrate with the local core literacy curriculum in many ways. Just as opera is a uniquely integrated art, combining orchestra, voice, literature, drama, and dance, Sounds of Learning™ is an interdisciplinary, student-centered program. The goal of the Active Learning sections is to have your children engaged in the process of selfteaching. They will be able to show how they have gained insights into their learning by drawing, writing, and discussing the issues most relevant to them. In this way, students demonstrate what they can do with what they know.

In preparing for the opera, we suggest you purchase one of EMI Classics’s excellent audio or video recordings of this opera. We are grateful to EMI Classics for offering us their libretti for use in our program. Together, we hope to build future audiences for, and performers of, the arts. Visit EMI on the web at www.emiclassics.com.

Goals and Objectives of Sounds of Learning™ • Understand the plot, characters, and their motivations of the opera • Learn something about the composer and others involved in writing the opera • Make a connection to the historic and social context of the story • Know some key musical elements, recognize certain melodies, differentiate between voices • Understand the role music plays in expressing emotions and heightening the dramatic experience • Understand the various elements of producing opera and the functions of those involved; e.g. conductor, director, set designer, technical crew, etc.

• Develop the ability to make inferences about the opera, production, and performance • Relate incidents in the opera to those of the present day

Best Practices in Arts Education is sponsored

by Pennsylvania Alliance for Arts Education, Pennsylvania Council on the Arts and the Pennsylvania Department of Education.

Table of

Contents Opera 101: Getting Ready for the Opera 2 3 4 6 7

Opera Company of Philadelphia Philadelphia’s Academy of Music The Then and Now of Opera The Language of Opera The Highs and Lows of the Operatic Voice

Relating Opera to History: The Culture Connection 8 10 11 12 13 14 15

The Man Behind the Music: Giacomo Puccini A Bohemian Named Mimi A Woman’s Work: Women’s Issues in the 1850s Health Care Issues in the 1850s An Ancient Killer Returns: Tuberculosis With Art, Philadelphia Art in Philadelphia Directory

Inside the Opera: La bohème 16 17 18 20

Meet the Maestro, Corrado Rovaris La bohème Meet the Artists La bohème Synopsis 1898 Newpaper Review of La bohème

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Opera Company of Philadelphia To do this we hire the best stage designers.

Sets might be built in the Company’s Production Center in the Tacony area of Philadelphia. Sometimes the Opera Company partners with another company to create sets and costumes, or rents a production from another company.

Right: Soprano Ermonela Jaho and tenor Roger Honeywell in Jun Kaneko’s stylized production of Puccini’s Madama Butterfly.

Below: Tenor William Burden stars as Hippolyt in Hans Werner Henze’s Phaedra.

Photos: Kelly & Massa Photography

For over 30 years the Opera Company of Philadelphia has brought audiences outstanding production quality, artistry and educational opportunities. A strong blend of traditional and innovative programming will continue to ensure the excitement of opera in Philadelphia.

Each season over 5,000 students from the Philadelphia area attend an opera through the Sounds of Learning™ program. The Company also hosts community recitals and lectures, internet events, and more.

Opera has played a vital part in Philadelphia’s history. The first known opera staged in Philadelphia was Midas in 1769. Since then, opera has been so popular here that there have been several opera companies in the city at the same time! The Opera Company of Philadelphia was created when the Philadelphia Grand Opera Company and the Philadelphia Lyric Opera Company joined in 1975.

Since then, the Opera Company of Philadelphia has continued the city’s operatic traditions.

The Opera Company also supports creating new American operas. In recent seasons five new operas have been seen at OCP: Margaret Garner by Richard Danielpour, Cyrano by David DiChiera, Ainadamar by Argentinian composer Osvaldo Golijov, and Phaedra by Hans Werner Henze. Tea: A Mirror of Soul by Chinese composer Tan Dun, who wrote the Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon film score, had its East Coast premiere at OCP in February 2010.

2. To identify and cultivate rising young talent and cast these future stars together with internationallyacclaimed singers.

We find the brightest young singers in our own backyard at two of the best opera schools in the world - The Curtis Institute of Music and the Academy of Vocal Arts. Singers from both schools have sung right along side stars like Lawrence Brownlee and Nathan Gunn.

3. To present innovative programs relevant to the multicultural Philadelphia region that educate, broaden, deepen, and diversify the opera audience.

Each season, the Opera Company presents five different operas with singers from all over the world. Three of the operas are given in the beautiful, large-scale Academy of Music. With just under 2,900 seats, the Academy is the Opera Company’s home for grand opera. Two smaller, more intimate operas are staged in the Perelman Theater. Located in the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, the Perelman Theater has only 600 seats, making it the perfect venue for chamber and modern operas.

Today, the Opera Company’s mission, or core purpose, is three-fold: 1. To deliver outstanding productions of traditional repertoire and new, exciting operatic works that resonate with the community.

ACTIVE LEARNING 1. Find out more about the Opera Company of Philadelphia at our website: www.operaphila.org.

2. Check out www.frankhamilton.org for a ton of information about the history of opera in Philadelphia.

Philadelphia’s

Academy of Music You will attend the opera at Philadelphia’s Academy of President Franklin Pierce Music, which is the country’s 1804-1869 oldest grand opera house still used for its original purpose - performing opera! It is a very grand opera house with a huge chandelier hanging from the ceiling. Its four-level design was based on the famous La Scala opera house in Milan, Italy.

Finding the money to build an opera house in Philadelphia was difficult, but enough money was raised by 1854. On October 13th a plot of land was bought on the corner of Broad and Locust Streets to build the opera house.

In the fall of 1854 fifteen architects entered a competition to see who would design the Academy.

On February 12, 1855, the team of Gustav Rungé and Napoleon le Brun won the contest, which included a $400 prize, or about $150,000 today! Within four months, the ground-breaking took place. The project was so important that President Franklin Pierce, along with the governor and mayor, laid the cornerstone on July 26, 1855.

The Academy opened on January 26, 1857 with a Grand Ball and Promenade Concert. The first opera presented in the brand new opera house was Giuseppe Verdi’s Il trovatore on February 25, 1857. Two of many operatic highlights throughout the theater’s history include the American premiere of Charles Gounod’s opera Faust on November 18, 1863 and a performance of Giacomo Puccini’s Madama Butterfly on February 14, 1907, with the composer in attendance.

Numerous presidents have visited the Academy, including Ulysses S. Grant, Theodore Roosevelt, and Richard Nixon. Prince Charles of Wales visited the Academy in 2007. Thousands of worldfamous performers have also appeared on its stage, like Peter Tchaikovsky, Sergei Rachmaninoff, George Gershwin, Igor Stravinsky, Arturo Toscanini, Marian Anderson, Maria Callas, and Luciano Pavarotti.

The Academy was made a Registered National Historic Landmark in 1963. Since that time, a few improvements have been made to its structure. The “Twenty-First Century Project”, begun in 1996, replaced the stage floor, rigging system, and restored the historic ceiling. During 2008, the famous chandelier was rebuilt to how it looked in 1857. All

The Academy of Music’s restored chandelier.

Photo by Michael Bolton

of these renovations have helped the Academy remain as grand as ever. We hope you find it grand as well!

Academy of Music Facts ›

The auditorium seats 2,897; 14 columns support the Academy’s tiers; the auditorium is encased within a three foot thick solid brick wall.

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The Academy Chandelier is 25 feet high, 50 feet in circumference, almost 17 feet in diameter, and 3,500 pounds in weight. It has 23,000 crystals on it, which, if laid out, could reach from Broad Street to Rittenhouse Square and back.

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The red and gold pattern on the Academy’s stage curtain simulates that of a pineapple, a Victorian-era symbol for “welcome.”

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The first-ever indoor football game was held on the Academy’s Parquet level on March 7, 1889 between the University of Pennsylvania and Riverton Club of Princeton. At halftime, tug-of-war matches were held as entertainment.

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1,600 people attended the first-ever motion picture screening on February 5, 1870. The audience saw a couple dancing, a gymnastics routine and more during the silent film.

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Air conditioning was installed in 1959.

There was no elevator for the general public in the Academy until 1990!

For more information on the Academy of Music, go to the library and take out Within These Walls, by John Francis Marion or go online to www.academyofmusic.org.

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The Then and Now of

Opera

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Theatrical performances that use music, song and dance to tell a story can be found in many cultures. Opera is just one example of music drama.

Have you ever wondered where opera got its start? Back in the late 1500s during the height of the Renaissance, a group of men called the Florentine Camerata got together to create a new and moving theatrical experience. They wanted to recreate what the ancient Greeks did during their legendary dramas.

The result was something entirely new – opera!

Most of the early operas were based on Greek myths. The first opera that we know of was called Dafne by Jacopo Peri in 1598, but the most famous opera of this early period that is still performed today is Claudio Monteverdi’s Orfeo (1607). Certain basic ingredients were included in opera: songs, instrumental accompaniments, costumes, dance, and scenery. We still use all of these ingredients today!

The early operas were first performed in the grand courts of Italian nobility, but soon opera became popular with the public, too. As it became all the rage, productions became more lavish! Soon, theaters began to be built just to mount operas.

Top: mezzo-soprano Ruxandra Donose as the hero in Gluck’s Orphée et Eurydice; Above: Prisoners in their cells in Jun Kaneko’s production of Beethoven’s Fidelio.

These theaters had elaborate stage machinery to create special effects like flying actors Claudio Monteverdi or crumbling buildings. Not 1567-1643 everyone embraced the new form of theater. Some critics thought that all of the stage antics in opera detracted from the music and drama. Some people even believed that seeing too much comedy in opera could make you immoral!

During the Baroque period (about 1600 to 1750), Italian opera spread all over Europe. The Italian style of opera was so popular that even non-Italians wrote in this style. For example George Frederic Handel (1685 – 1759) was a German-born composer who lived and worked in England. His operas, like Julius Caesar (1724), were written in the Italian language and used an Italian style of music. The only nation to create its’ own national operatic style was France. Ballet played a large role in the French culture, and operas often included ballets in the middle of the opera. The most famous French Baroque opera composers were JeanBaptiste Lully (1632-1687) and Jean-Philippe Rameau (1683 - 1764).

The eighteenth century was full of change for both Europe and opera. This time period was known as the Age of Enlightenment. People were starting to talk about new forms of government and organization in society, especially the ever-growing middle class.

Music displayed this new thinking as composers dropped the Baroque era’s complicated musical style for simpler, more emotional music. In less-flashy music, characters could express their thoughts and feelings more believably. One of the first operas to use this new style was Christoph Willibald Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice (1762).

In 1776 the American Revolution changed the world. A few years later the French had their own revolution (1789) and the first modern democracies were born. To match the times in which they were created, audiences wanted to see characters like themselves on stage, not gods and goddesses. They also wanted to see issues that were important to them. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro (1786) featured a timely story of aristocratic class struggles that had both servants and nobility in lead roles. The ideals of the Enlightenment also came to the stage in Ludwig van Beethoven‘s only opera, Fidelio, a story about equality and freedom.

absurd (The Rake’s Progress by Igor Stravinsky, 1951). American opera had a huge hit with George and Ira Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess (1935) which included jazz and blues musical styles. Not only did American composers embrace popular music in opera but also a repetitive, hypnotic style called minimalism. American composer Philip Glass’s Einstein on the Beach (1976) is the popular example of minimalism in opera.

In the 1800s opera continued to grow. The Italian tradition continued in the bel canto movement, which literally translates to “beautiful singing”. These operas asked performers to sing complicated groups of fast notes in the melodies. The most famous bel canto composers were Gioacchino Rossini (1792 –1868), Gaetano Donizetti (1797 – 1848), and Vincenzo Bellini (1801 –1835). Their operas, like Rossini’s popular comedies The Barber of Seville (1816) and Cinderella (1817), are still some of the most popular operas performed today.

By the middle of the century, the Romantic Movement led many composers to champion their own national identities. As a result, operas in languages other than Italian became more common; new works often reflected pride in a country’s people, history, and folklore. German operas like Carl Maria von Weber’s Der Freischütz (1821), Russian operas like Mikhail Glinka’s A Life for the Tsar (1836) and French operas like Giacomo Meyerbeer’s Les Huguenots (1836) started to be performed across Europe. By using nationalism in his operas like Nabucco (1842), Italian Giuseppe Verdi became a national hero. In Germany Richard Wagner took Romanticism to the extreme in a four-part operatic miniseries based on Norse mythology, The Ring of the Nibelung (1876), which takes over 15 hours to perform! The operatic stereotype of the singer in the Viking helmet comes from these operas.

Opera in twentieth century became even more experimental. Composers like Giacomo Puccini (La bohème, 1896), Claude Debussy (Pelléas et Mélisande, 1902), Richard Strauss (Salome, 1905), and Benjamin Britten (Peter Grimes, 1945) evolved their national styles. Others, horrified by the destruction of World War I (1914-1919) and other aspects of modern life, created music that was new and drastically dissonant.

These operas often explored either dark psychological topics (Wozzeck by Alban Berg, 1925), or simple and

Today, opera is still growing and expanding. The Opera Company of Philadelphia helps to shape the future of opera by producing important new works like Richard Danielpour and Toni Morrison’s slaveryinspired Margaret Garner (2005), Osvaldo Golijov’s flamenco-themed Ainadamar (2003), and Hans Werner Henze’s Phaedra (2007), which interprets Greek mythology through the eyes of a World War II survivor. This year the Opera Company of Philadelphia is proud to present Nico Muhly’s Dark Sisters (2011) which is set in the American Southwest explores the lives of a group of women who live in a polygamist community.

Although opera is one of the oldest musical art forms, it still remains and expands today. From the old favorites to the new experimental works opera continues to be a moving art form of the people.

ACTIVE LEARNING 1. Chose a composer noted above and research two other operas by that composer.

2.

3.

4.

Can you find the story of the Greek myth Daphne?

5.

Visit the Opera Road Map on page 7 to learn more about opera.

How did Lully die?

What does the acronym Verdi stand for in the phrase Viva Verdi?

5 Right: the cast of Rossini’s Cinderella; Below: Puccini’s loveable bohemians; Bottom: Denyce Graves and Gregg Baker in Danielpour and Morrison’s Margaret Garner.

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The Language of Opera Act - main sections of a play or opera Aria - a solo song sung in an opera

Audience - people who watch a performance and sit in the “house� or auditorium Ballet - dance set to music within an opera

Blocking - action on stage Character - person who is part of the opera’s story Chorus - music composed for a group of singers or the name of a group of singers in an opera Conductor - person who rehearses and leads the orchestra Duet - a song performed by 2 singers

Forte - a musical dynamic marking meaning to perform the music loudly Leitmotiv - a recurring short melody used to represent a character or thing Libretto - the words, or script, sung in an opera Orchestra - a group of musicians who play various musical instruments together Overture - a piece of instrumental music played at the beginning of an opera

Piano - a musical dynamic marking meaning to perform the music softly Proscenium - the arch that separates a stage from the auditorium Program - booklet that contains information about the opera, composer, performers, the opera company, and includes advertisements Recitative - words that are sung in the rhythm of natural speech - a bit like the 18th century version of rap

Rehearsal - time when singers/actors practice with or without the orchestra; time when musicians practice together with the conductor Scene - segments of action within the acts of an opera

Stage - a platform on which a performance is given for an audience Synopsis - a brief summary of the plot of an opera, play, movie, etc.

The Highs and Lows of the

Operatic Voice Did you ever wonder what the difference is between a soprano and a mezzo-soprano or what voice type can sing the highest note and the lowest? Most opera singers fall into a voice type that reflects the singer’s vocal range and its basic size and quality. Opera singers spend years learning to sing correctly without microphones. The sound an opera singer produces is done through the sheer power of the human voice.

So how does one become a soprano, mezzo-soprano, tenor, baritone, or bass, the five most common types of voices?

The length of the vocal chords determine vocal range, or the span from the lowest note to the highest note that a particular singer can produce. A voice’s sound quality or color and its ability to project over a full orchestra also help determine which category a voice falls into.

Some terms that are used to describe operatic voices are: Coloratura: typically a voice with a very high range and the ability to sing very fast music.

Dramatic: a heavy, powerful voice with a steely timbre.

Lyric: an average size voice capable of singing long beautiful phrases.

Lyric spinto: a slightly larger and steelier voice than a lyric.

Helden: a German term referring to a powerful voice capable of singing very demanding roles.

Falsetto: the upper part of the voice, often in reference to male voices.

Let’s define the voice types that audiences hear in opera: Sopranos are the highest female voice type.

In operatic drama, the soprano is almost always the heroine because she projects innocence and youth. Within this category, there are other sub-divisions such as, coloratura soprano, lyric soprano, and dramatic soprano. Each of these voices has particular lighter or darker voice qualities as well as differences in range. For example, Mimì in La bohème is a lyric soprano.

The mezzo-soprano has a lower range than the soprano. Many mezzo-sopranos sing “trouser” parts, generally young male roles, or they may be the villainesses or motherly types. This category is also sub-divided into the coloratura mezzo, who can sing complicated fast music. The dramatic mezzo is often found in Giuseppe Verdi’s operas in roles like Amneris (Aida), or Eboli (Don Carlo). Perhaps the best-known mezzo role is Carmen in the opera of the same name.

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The contralto or alto is the lowest and darkest female voice. This voice type is usually reserved for special roles like the goddess Erda in Richard Wagner’s Nordic fantasyepic The Ring of the Nibelungen. Philadelphia native Marian Anderson was one of the world’s greatest contraltos ever.

For males, the tenor the highest natural male voice in opera, and often the hero or the love interest of the story. There are many different types of tenor voices, but two of the most common are the high voiced and bright toned lyric tenors, and the darker voiced dramatic tenors who have ringing high notes. Rodolfo in La bohème is a famous lyric tenor role.

A countertenor is a man who sings even higher than a tenor. They sing the same notes as mezzo-sopranos and contraltos by singing in the falsetto range. These voices produce a unique otherworldly sound. Hans Werner Henze used a countertenor to portray the female role of Artemis in his opera Phaedra.

A baritone is the most common male voice type whose range lies midway between the high tenor voice and the low bass voice.

Baritones play several types of roles: comic relief, the trusted friend, or the villain. This voice can have a dramatic quality with rich, dark tones. Marcello and Schaunard are two baritone roles in La bohème.

A bass is the lowest and darkest of the male voices. Some singers in this category are bass-baritones as their can’t sing quite as high as a baritone or quite as low as a true bass. A bass frequently plays wise or noble characters like Sarastro in The Magic Flute, or wildly comic roles like Dr. Bartolo in The Barber of Seville.

So, no matter what the size, quality or range, a singer’s voice has the ability to thrill an audience with its sheer beauty and musicality.

ACTIVE LEARNING 1. If the film The Hunger Games had been made into an opera, what voice types would you cast in the roles below and why?

Katniss Everdeen Gale Hawthorne Peeta Mellark

Haymitch Abernathy Rue President Coriolanus Snow

The Man Behind the Music:

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Giacomo Puccini Giacomo Puccini was born on December 22, 1858 in Lucca, Italy. He would become one of the most popular opera composers ever.

Puccini’s father, Michele, taught music at the local conservatory and was a church musician. He died when Puccini was six years old. His mother was left to support six daughters and two sons. The family was poor and his mother worried about Puccini’s future. She believed that a good education could free her children from poverty. At age nine, Puccini joined the seminary, later becoming a chorister and organist at the Cathedral of Lucca.

In 1876 Puccini and his brother walked 18 miles to see a performance of Verdi’s Aida in the town of Pisa. He knew opera was his destiny. He wanted to study at the conservatory in Milan, but he couldn’t afford the tuition.

Puccini’s mother wrote a letter to the Queen of Italy to get a scholarship for her son.

The letter worked, but it didn’t mean that Puccini was now rich. He wrote to his mother about food, requesting a little olive oil or some beans. Puccini quipped of his lifestyle, “At five I have a thrifty meal with soup, then I light up a cigar and I go to the Galleria.”

In 1882 when Puccini was 24, he submitted his first opera, Le Villi (The Willies) into a competition. He didn’t win, but it was staged two years later. The opera was a success and one critic called Puccini "the composer Italy had waited for." The publishing company G. Ricordi & Co was impressed enough to commission Puccini to write the opera Edgar, but it failed at its 1889 premiere.

Elvira Bonturi In 1884 Puccini was hired to teach Elvira Bonturi Gemignani, the wife of his friend Narciso Gemignani, to sing and play the piano. Puccini and Elvira hit it off and soon became lovers despite that she had a son and a daughter with her husband. When Elvira discovered she was pregnant with Puccini’s child, she moved out of the house with her daughter to live with the poor composer.

Divorce was illegal at the time in Italy, and woman had few rights under Italian law. It was impossible for Puccini and Elvira to marry.

They moved to the lakeside village of Torre del Lago in the Tuscany region of Italy. Here Elvira gave birth

to Puccini’s son, Antonio and the composer threw himself into his work.

He worked very hard on his next opera, Manon Lescaut (1893). It was an immediate triumph and gave Puccini fame and success, if not wealth. At Torre del Lago he composed his three most popular operas: La bohème (1896), Tosca (1900), and Madama Butterfly (1904), which finally brought him wealth.

Puccini enjoyed the relaxed life he could lead by the lake. Here he indulged in his passions: hunting, smoking cigars, technology (he frequently corresponded with Thomas Edison), and fast cars. Puccini almost died after he was in a near-fatal car accident in 1903.

Ironically, Elvira’s husband died the day after the accident.

His death enabled Puccini to marry Elvira after the legally imposed 10 months of widowhood.

The Manfredi Incident Perhaps that which Puccini liked the most was women. He had a long series of love affairs outside of his relationship with Elvira. He reassured her that they meant nothing to him, but as an artist, he relied on them to help his creativity. This excuse did little to calm Elvira’s terrible jealousy.

One of the worst examples of Elvira’s jealousy surrounded her treatment of their maid, Doria Manfredi. A local peasant girl who had worked for the Puccinis since she was 16, Doria helped Puccini during the long recovery period after the 1903 car accident. Doria was extremely attentive to Puccini’s needs and there was an affectionate bond between the two of them.

Elvira noticed this affection and her jealousy got the best of her; she assumed the two were having an affair. She threw Doria out of the house and threatened to kill her. She vowed to ruin Doria’s reputation in the small village. Elvira publicly condemned Doria and screamed insults at Doria and her relatives in the street. In a quest to catch her husband with the former maid, Elvira disguised herself in one of Puccini’s suits in the hopes of catching the two together one night.

The quiet and simple girl could take no more. In January 23, 1909 she committed suicide by taking three poisonous mercury chloride tablets. The poison worked

slowly and Doria was in extruciating pain. It took three days for the poison to do its intended effect.

A court ordered autopsy proved that Doria had died a virgin. Doria’s family sued Elvira for defamation and slander. Elvira was found guilty and sentenced to five months in prison. The case was settled out of court on appeal after Puccini offered the family 12,000 lire in compensation.

Publicly humiliated and devastated by these events, Puccini and Elvira temporarily separated. Doria’s death would haunt Puccini for the rest of his life. He was known to place flowers on Doria’s grave from time to time.

Doria’s impact on Puccini is evident through his operas, almost as if life was imitating his art. Doria is the living embodiment of his sweet and innocent heroines Mimì, Butterfly, and Liù. Some critics say that the Turandot gave Puccini the opportunity to depict his wife and Doria through the roles of Turandot and Liù.

Despite Puccini’s humble beginnings, he went on to become an operatic superstar. At his death his estate was worth $4,000,000. His operas receive hundreds of performances each year. He may have died over 80 years ago, but he will live on through his soaring melodies and the passion of is operas.

ACTIVE LEARNING 1. What six cities are mentioned in this article? a. In what countries are they located? b. Can you find them on a map?

2. How old was Puccini when he went to see a production of Verdi’s Aida in Pisa?

Back to Work After Doria’s suicide, Puccini returned to work. He finished work on the opera La fanciulla del west (The Girl of the Golden West). The opera was based on a play

by American playwright David Belasco. Puccini discovered it while in America to supervise the supervise the New York premiere of his Madama Butterly, which was based on another Belasco play. Fanciulla had a successful premiere at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City and starred the famous tenor Enrico Caruso.

Puccini began to work on a trio of one act operas for the Met: Il tabarro (The Cloak) about an unfaithful wife along the banks of the Seine River in Paris; Suor Angelica (Sister Angelica) about a nun that commits suicide, and Gianni Schicchi (Johnny Schicchi) based on Dante’s The Divine Comedy. The three operas were to be performed on the same night under the title Il trittico (The Triptych). The operas did not achieve the success of his previous works.

In 1920 Puccini began work on Turandot, but he had difficulty finishing the opera. By 1923 he complained of a chronic sore throat which was diagnosed as throat cancer. He underwent treatment in Brussels, but died on November 24, 1924. Originally buried in Milan, Puccini’s remains were moved to a chapel in his Torre del Lago villa.

Turandot was completed by Franco Alfano who used Puccini’s sketches to finish it. It was premiered at La Scala in Milan on April 25th, 1925.

Composer Giacomo Puccini, with his trademark cigarette Photo Courtesy Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 , #LC-USZ62-65802

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A Bohemian Named

Mimì

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The opera La bohème is based on Henri Murger’s novel, Scènes de la Vie de Bohème. The novel was set on the Left Bank of Paris. This section of Paris was also where many students lived. It was known for cheap housing for the university intellectuals.

As a result, this area also attracted many artists who were seeking inexpensive housing and young girls who had run away from their homes in the countryside. One of these young girls was our Mimì.

She was Lucille Louvet, an historic person, who made silk flowers. She died on March 6, 1848, at the very young age of 22, from tuberculosis. This explains why Mimì in her first act aria sings: “They call me Mimì, but my real name is Lucia. “

the historic Mimì was not as sweet as our theatrical character. The librettists altered her personality to match the era’s concept of the ideal woman in need – the fragile female. This created a woman in need for which the audience could express sympathy.

This also reflected the inability of society to address the root causes of the suffering of women – the inherent sexism within a society that treated women as property. The real Mimì was drawn to Rodolfo but was very strong willed and independent.

The concept of a strong woman in need would have forced social issues that could have undercut the dramatic thrust of the two lovers struggling against a health crisis made worse through their poverty.

Why would a young girl run away from her home? At the time of Mimì, nearly all women were considered the property of their fathers until they were married, and at that point they became the property of their husbands. Young ladies could not choose who they would marry; this decision was up to their fathers. If a young girl was unhappy about whom she was being forced to marry, or a victim of abuse at home, she would often run away to Paris where she would end up living in the Left Bank of Paris with the other young people. This was a time of great social inequality; women were usually not allowed to attend schools. The country girls who ran away to Paris were very poor. Alone and only domestically skilled, they made their clothes from cheap gray cloth. This earned them the name grisette, referring to the cheap material. It became a badge or symbol of the status.

Within the opera’s plot, Rodolfo realizes Mimì is very ill with tuberculosis. The impoverished lovers decide it is best for them to part so that Mimì can trade on her beauty and find a wealthy man who can afford to get her the medical treatment she needs.

Although Mimì does not want to leave Rodolfo, she knows that becoming a courtesan might be her only chance to survive. At the end of the third act, they decide to stay together until the coming of spring.

Life for women in the Left Bank was not easy.

Many women were forced to share rooms in tenement housing. Overcrowding enabled disease to spread quickly and easily from one person to another. Jobs were few for uneducated women from the country side. To support themselves, women would either try to find work as maids, or as seamstresses, and in many cases they would use their personal beauty to entice men to support them in exchange for sexual favors. If they chose the latter, they became known as courtesans. In many cases, women shifted from one path to another as they struggled to survive.

In our opera, Mimi begins as a grisette living alone and trying to make a living as an artificial flower maker. She meets Rodolfo, the young Bohemian artist, and the two fall in love. In truth,

Choosing to live the life of a courtesan was very dangerous. However, as with Mimì, many of the women of the Left Bank were already dying of diseases, so the choice to become a courtesan was most often a survival tactic. Marriage was not an option because the women who had run away from the traditional lifestyle were considered outcasts. A man who married a courtesan found that his social invitation was limited. Women of proper society did not accept the courtesans but noted their freedom. Thus courtesans challenged the social structure to its core.

ACTIVE LEARNING 1. Make a list of the rights women have today that they did not have at the time of Mimì.

2. Do a research project on run-aways. List the frequent causes and danger encountered by young people who run away from home.

A Woman’s Work:

Women’s Issues in the 1850’s During the 19th century, women’s rights and roles in society were quickly changing. Across Europe women were joining together in protest to obtain fairer wages, better hours and more comfortable working conditions in major cities where women could earn a living outside the home. In the United States women were also coming together to declare their rights as citizens of the country that they worked so hard to support. Across the world, women were asserting their right to equal treatment, and this struggle would continue until the modern age.

In many parts of Europe, as well as in the United States, it was increasingly acceptable for women to work for a living. Nearly all of the jobs available to them, however, were those in textiles or sewing, or working in the home as a maid, nanny or cook. By the 1850’s, working within the home as a domestic servant was seen as lower status, and therefore these positions were frequently filled by immigrant women, or women of lower social class.

This meant that nearly all women worked in some form of needlework, which was detailed and labor intensive work, yet the standard wage wasn’t always enough to guarantee food and shelter. For this reason, many women became desperate and turned to selling their bodies as prostitutes for extra income.

Another difficult issue facing many women was the limited say that they had in their financial and legal affairs if they were married. Married women and their children were often considered the legal property of their husbands, and divorce was not an option for women in most countries until the late 1850’s. If a man wanted a divorce, all he needed to do was accuse his wife of being unfaithful. By 1857 in England, a woman could obtain a divorce only if she could prove that her husband had been unfaithful, and that he had also abused or mistreated her.

After divorcing, a woman was not always entitled to keep any of her possessions or even her children.

In the United States, the westward expansion was constantly opening new opportunities. But with the promise of gold and open land, many women and children found themselves abandoned by their prospecting husbands. Because of this, the United States not only made it easier for women to obtain a divorce, but also began offering land in the new territory of Oregon for sale to single women. Many

women took this opportunity to move west, where they opened boarding houses to cater to the many new immigrants and workers seeking their fortune.

Paris (the capital of France) erupted into social revolution in 1848, as all workers both male and female demanded better treatment at their jobs in factories. During this period, women could work to support themselves, but they generally were paid very little for time-consuming and challenging work such as sewing and embroidery. The resulting system of national workshops allowed women the right to organize, and provided them with improved working conditions. This first step set the stage for the women’s suffrage movement, or the struggle for the right to vote, as well as for the creation of a new law that would finally let a woman obtain a divorce from her husband.

Daily life for a woman during the 1850’s contained many obstacles, not all of which were as public as the right to vote. The average married woman had six children, and few of today’s modern amenities like the washing machine or dishwasher.

One woman, fed up with trying to work around the home and in her garden in heavy hoop skirts, invented a short trouser that made this work more comfortable. The Bloomer became very popular for a brief time with progressive women but was publicly rejected as “unbecoming” and quickly fell out of fashion.

Women work at embroidering in this engraving.

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The 1850’s:

Health Care Issues

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Many of today’s developments in health care and medical treatment have their origins in the 19th century: like washing our hands, using mouth wash, or being treated by a nurse before we see the doctor. These practices started in the 1850’s and helped people live longer, healthier lives.

Becoming seriously ill, or receiving a serious injury during the early 19th century was a frightening experience. Surgery was rarely performed. Pain was also a serious issue, until a drug called Ether was discovered in the mid-1800s. This one discovery would lead to many more types of anesthetics, and therefore allow much more surgery to be performed.

Louis Pasteur 1822-1895

The doctor’s bare, dirty hands often caused an infection in patients known as sepsis. Until the mid-1800’s, doctor’s did not understand that there were germs on their hands and germs that caused infection. This idea was introduced by Louis Pasteur (1822-1895) who discovered the microorganisms that cause food to spoil.

Pasteur then invented a process to keep food from spoiling, which we now call Pasteurization.

Pasteur’s work was continued and applied to the medical world through the work of Joseph Lister (18271912). Lister understood that germs could cause infection in people. He invented anti-septic which revolutionized not only medical care but much of our understanding of hygiene today. Lister’s anti-septic could be sprayed on surfaces and tools throughout the hospital, thus greatly reducing the number of germs that would come into patient contact. This scientist’s name lives on today as the anti-septic mouthwash “Listerine”.

Health care and the hospital system as it exists today are very new concepts. In the early 1800s, very little was understood about illness and many people were afraid to be near patients. Hospital jobs were taken by people of very low status, such as criminals and servants. During the Crimean War (March 28, 1853 – April 1, 1856), Florence Nightingale (18201910), a British aristocrat, was troubled by the treatment of injured soldiers.

Nightingale was educated and understood the new germ theory. She helped spread new hygienic practices throughout the army and in army hospitals.

Most importantly, as a woman of high social status, she brought nursing into a respectable light, and helped make it a promising and rewarding career.

The Red Cross was also a product of the 19th Century wars. Founded in 1859 by Henry Dunant, a rich Swiss businessman who was horrified to learn of the fate of many wounded soldiers. Many wounded soldiers were left on the battlefield to die.

Dunant created the Red Cross to help these soldiers and those affected by the war, without risking being attacked. The Red Cross’s staff would clearly wear the giant Red Cross and be free from harm.

The discovery of germs dramatically changed life in the late 1800s. Knowing that germs could cause illness led people to change many aspects of their lives, including what they wore. Women had worn layered petticoats under their dresses, but they were rarely cleaned and often dirty. As germs were better understood, women replaced their petticoats with more breathable undergarments. For men shaved off their fashionable beards to have a more hygenic clean-shaven face. Even toilet paper was created during this time.

Common Diseases Malaria: (was called “the ague” or “intermittent fever”), responsible for many deaths in Europe between 15th and 19th century. Spread due to poor sanitation. In the early 1800s, cases eased as swamp lands were drained and hygiene improved.

Treatments and Practices Sanitariums were created primarily to treat respiratory problems, especially tuberculosis which was rampant in the mid1800s. The principle behind sanitariums was that fresh air and exercise could cure nearly everything, including tuberculosis.

Discoveries Gregor Mendel (1822-1884) pioneered the science of genetics (1870) which has led to many major advances in science.

Also discovered during this period was the structure of the cell, helped in large part by use of the microscope.

ACTIVE LEARNING 1. How are hospital patients and the sick treated differently now as compared to the 1850’s?

2. In what ways does the Red Cross affect our lives today?

Can you think of any recent events in which the Red Cross provided support?

An Ancient Killer Returns:

Tuberculosis When Mimì fell ill in our opera, tuberculosis (TB) was known as consumption. This ancient disease haunted humanity for thousands of years. The first scientists who worked at understanding it were from France. Gaspard Laurent Bayle (1774-1816) and René Laënnec (17811826) studied and documented the progressive stages of the illness until it killed both of them. Robert Koch (1843-1910), a German microbiologist who founded modern medical bacteriology, isolated the bacteria that causes the disease. In 1882, Koch presented his findings showing that the tubercle bacillus was the cause of the illness. In time, researchers from around the world confirmed his findings. This discovery enabled doctors to improve their diagnosis of the disease.

However, as more and more poor people in our cities became ill, it was soon not easy to keep track of them to see if they had taken their pills. Since nature has ways of adapting to the environmental changes that threaten one of its species, the people who failed to take all of their medication began to develop new kinds of mutated TB. These new strains of the disease now resist antibiotics. The World Health Organization reports that over fifty million people have a form of TB that resists antibiotics at present. They also state that one third of the human population now have the bacteria that causes TB in their lungs, but most never develop the disease. In 2006 alone, 9 million people are living with TB, of which 2 million will die.

It was discovered that the bacteria that caused TB was often in the saliva of the person infected.

As the disease led the person to cough, the bacteria became airborne in small droplets of saliva and then it was carried on dust particles. When another person breathed the bacteria into their lungs, they became infected with the disease. Only about one in ten become seriously ill with the infection because most people have strong immune systems. However, when people did not eat enough because they were poor, or they did not get enough sleep because they were working many hours just to survive, their immune systems began to fail and the bacteria would then grow stronger. In time, they could become deathly sick.

The incurable form of TB now kills over 50% of the people it infects. This fact helps us to realize that all of us must take all of the medication prescribed by our doctors.

There is now hope that our leading scientists will develop a vaccine for TB in the near future.

At the turn of the last century, many people in cities were dying of the disease. Fortunately, in 1944, American microbiologist Selman Abraham Waksman discovered streptomycin. The use of antibiotics enabled many infected people to recover from the disease. For a time, it was thought that antibiotics would enable us to wipe TB from the earth. If we could cure people suffering from TB, maybe the day would come when no one would be suffering from it.

Unfortunately, to cure a person infected called for them to take an antibiotic for up to six months and sometimes for over a year. This was necessary if they were to totally kill off the bacteria that caused the illness. For many years, people followed their doctor’s orders and took their medication. As a result, the number of people dying from TB decreased every year until the mid 1980’s.

ACTIVE LEARNING 1. Research the life of Dr. Koch and find out what other major disease he researched.

2. Research the term “sanatorium” and write a position paper on your feelings. Would this concept help in the fight against TB?

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With Art,

Philadelphia

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This production of La bohème celebrates some of the greatest art in the world - art that happens to be on display in Philadelphia at The Barnes Foundation and the Philadelphia Museum of Art. With the move of The Barnes Foundation from Merion, Pennsylvania to the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, Philadelphia’s reputation as a must-see destination for art lovers has increased dramatically.

To help spread the word about art in the city, the Greater Philadelphia Tourism and Marketing Corporation created an ad campaign called “With Art, Philadelphia.” It’s an invitation for all to celebrate the world-class art museums and galleries that are in the city. You may have seen the “With Art, Philadelphia” ads on buses, billboards, or on TV. There is a lot of art to see, too. There is more public art in Philadelphia than any other city in the world. The Philadelphia Museum of Art alone has 300,000 pieces in its collection! Plus, there are pieces of art in Philadelphia that span all of recorded history, from a 3,000 year-old ancient Greek vase, to a sculpture created this year by the artists at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts.

With the opening of The Barnes Foundation in April 2012, art lovers have greater access to see the largest collection of Impressionist, Post-Impressionist and early Modern paintings in the world.

Dr. Alfred C. Barnes 1872-1951 Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, Van Vechten Collection

The Impressionist movement was at the height of its popularity at the same time in which Giacomo Puccini’s opera La bohème is set. The Opera Company of Philadelphia’s production of the opera will use digital images of Impressionist paintings from The Barnes Foundation and the Philadelphia Museum of Art which will come to life through animation and projected onto the stage. Puccini’s bohemians will be living within the art of their time.

What is Impressionism?

According to dictionary.com, an impression is defined as “a notion, remembrance, belief, etc., often of a vague or indistinct nature.” The artists of the Impressionist movement sought to create art that had a “remembrance” feel to it in that one had a sense of what the object was but the details were unclear or fuzzy.

That dream-like quality is actually one of the defining features of Impressionism. Artists would use short brush strokes to create this effect.

The characteristics of Impressionist paintings include: • Small visible brush strokes • Light that is accurate and visible • A sense of a passage of time as that light reflects on the object • Unique perspectives • A sense of movement • Composition that is open and flowing • Subject matter that is common, ordinary, every day

Development of the Impressionist Style In the early 1800s and before, French artists painted their subjects as realistically as possible.

Portraits, historical scenes or religious themes were favored as were darker, more serious colors.

But by the mid-1800s, France was changing.

The country, under the leadership of Emperor Napoleon III, was still rebuilding after the Revolution and the economy thrived with the Industrial Age. The French people were also redefining who they were in this post-Enlightenment era.

Changes affected the art world, too. Young artists were pushing the boundaries of what was suitable to paint while trying out new painting techniques. These new paintings were rejected by the art experts because they did not obey traditional methods and subjects. Special salon showings were organized for the public to see the rejected art and independent gallery showings followed, organized by artists who were also cast off by the experts.

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ACTIVE LEARNING Philadelphia is a city filled with art - both in museums and on city walls! Below is a brief list of some of the art museums in the area where you can see art from the last 3,000 years and more. You may want to consider visiting one of the museums listed below with your parents or on a field trip. Maybe you’ll be inspired to explore the arts, too. For more information on these and other art museums in the area, visit withart.visitphilly.com.

These new artists were called “impressionists” because of a negative newspaper review of Claude Monet’s “Impression, Sunrise” saying that “wallpaper in its developing state is more finished.” The term “impressionist” stuck.

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Impressionist art was scandalous in its time and even for decades later. When Philadelphia native and art enthusiast Dr. Albert C. Barnes first displayed his collection of Impressionist and Modern art in Philadelphia at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in April 1923, it was condemned as vile, degenerate, immoral and more.

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Today, Impressionist paintings sell for millions of dollars at auction and art museum exhibitions of the Impressionist masters are frequently sold out. Art fans from around the world have flocked to Philadelphia to get a first glimpse of the famed collections at The Barnes and the Philadelphia Museum of Art. In this production of Puccini’s La bohème, legendary Impressionist masterworks will be on display, providing a unique look at the artists of the time, a better understanding of the characters in the opera, and a great opportunity to see why Philadelphia is one of the greatest art cities in the world.

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Abington Art Center The African-American Museum in Philadelphia Arthur Ross Gallery Balch Institute for Ethnic Studies The Barnes Foundation Brandywine River Museum The Delaware Center for the Contemporary Arts The Fabric Workshop & Museum The Fleisher Art Memorial Free Library of Philadelphia Glencairn Museum Independence Seaport Museum Institute of Contemporary Art The James A. Michener Art Museum The Patricia D. Pfundt Sculpture Garden and Terrace Mummers Museum Mural Arts Program Mütter Museum National Museum of American Jewish History The Noyes Museum of Art Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts Philadelphia City Hall Philadelphia Museum of Art Rodin Museum Rosenbach Museum and Library Schuylkill Academy of Fine Art University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archeology and Anthropology Philadelphia Wood Turning Center

Top of page: Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec Oil on canvas Middle of Page: Vincent van Gogh

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At the Moulin Rouge: The Dance ● 1890

Sunflowers

Images courtesy Philadelphia Museum of Art

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1888 or 1889

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Oil on canvas

Meet the Maestro: 16

Corrado Rovaris When conducting, the Maestro uses his right hand to indicate tempo and his left hand to indicate phrasing and expression. He also uses his eyes and face to convey the feeling in the music. The singers and the orchestra musicians have to watch the conductor at all times. To blend the singers and the orchestra together successfully, the Maestro needs to know how everything sounds to the audience. The only way to learn that is through experience in the theater where he conducts, especially as each theater has its own acoustic or unique sound.

Maestro Corrado Rovaris sits down to talk to OCP intern Josephine Patane.

To conductor Corrado Rovaris, being a musician is more than just a job. As Music Director of the Opera Company of Philadelphia, he believes that his biggest responsibility is explaining the composer’s style and sound to the orchestra and chorus. It is also important to keep everyone energized and working as a team to stay focused during the rigorous rehearsal process. Maestro Rovaris’ favorite opera is always the one that he is currently working on because he believes that to convince other people to love the opera, he has to love it himself. Emotions are very important when conducting, more important than having perfect technique. Without emotion, an opera is not truly entertaining, even if the technique and playing are flawless.

Maestro Rovaris gets very emotionally involved when conducting and by the end of a performance he is pumped up with adrenaline. He finds it easier to conduct concerts, but he loves conducting operas because all the parts of the opera come together and create one product.

When putting his own interpretation on a score, Maestro Rovaris believes that respect for the composer’s wishes must be taken into account, as well as background knowledge of the piece, the composer, the time period in which the piece was written, and the style of music the piece was written in. Then, knowing all of that, he can begin to build his interpretation of the score.

Many things contribute to how the sound travels into the house, one of which is the set. An open stage is very difficult to sing on because there are no walls on the stage for the sound to bounce off. Without walls the sound isn’t focused when it flows into the theater, and some of the sound stays trapped behind the proscenium.

Experience in the performing arts is very important, and we are lucky that in Philadelphia there are many performing arts colleges around, including the Academy of Vocal Arts and The Curtis Institute of Music. The students that become performers here receive a lot of performance experience while attending those schools.

Corrado Rovaris was born in the town of Bergamo, Italy into a very musical family. His father knew a lot about operas and took him to see his first opera, Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor, when he was very young. At the time he thought it was boring, and slept through it! He studied the harpsichord, organ, piano, and other keyboard instruments.

The Maestro found that learning to play the organ has helped him as a conductor because it taught him how to read multiple lines of music at the same time. He didn’t like to practice, but his first girlfriend came along and changed that. She was very strict and always made sure he made time for his homework and practice. Once he began to practice consistently, Maestro Rovaris learned music chronologically from the early masters onward. He conducted for the first time as a substitute at La Scala during a concert of 18th century music.

Corrado Rovaris and his wife Anna have a daughter named Marta. Becoming a father has changed how he feels about life, and being a father is very important to him. In his free time he likes to watch soccer and read. His favorite food is sushi.

La bohème

Meet the Artists Mimì Norah Amsellem, soprano Desdemona, Otello, 20010

Marcello Troy Cook, baritone Marcello, La bohème, 2006 Sharpless, Madama Butterfly, 2009 Lescaut, Manon Lescaut, 2012

Colline Jeremy Milner, bass Simone, Gianni Schicchi, 2009 Roderigo, Otello, 2010 Lodovico, La traviata, 2011 Monotau, Phaedra, 2012 Zuniga, Carmen, 2011

Rodolfo Bryan Hymel, tenor OCP Debut

Musetta Leah Partridge, soprano Violetta, La traviata, 2010

Schaunard Craig Verm, baritone OCP Debut

CONDUCTOR Corrado Rovaris Madama Butterfly, 2009 La traviata, 2010 Orphée et Eurydice, 2010 Otello, 2010 The Cunning Little Vixen , 2011 Tosca, 2011 Phaedra, 2011 (partial listing)

For more information on our artists, check out their bios within the libretto in the student guide or visit our web site at www.operaphila.org

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La bohème:

Synopsis

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gone out on the steps. In fragile health and exhausted by climbing the stairs, she faints in his arms. Revived by a sip of wine, Rodolfo relights her candle. She is about to go when she realizes that her door key has fallen somewhere in the room. A draft puts out both candles. As they hunt in the darkness for the key, their fingers touch.

Gently taking her hand, Rodolfo marvels at how cold and delicate it is. Warming it in his own, he assures her that the rising moon will soon help them in their search. Meanwhile he offers to entertain her with an account of his life as an aspiring artist – poor in worldly things, but rich in poetic inspiration.

Her beauty has now added the precious gift of hope to his riches.

The bohemians hang out in their garrett on Christmas Eve. Photo: Tim Wilkerson Atlanta Opera

Act I On Christmas Eve, in an attic in the Latin Quarter of Paris, Rodolfo, a poet, and Marcello, a painter, are kept from working by cold and hunger. As Rodolfo fires up the stove with the manuscript of his five-act tragedy, Colline, a philosophy student, returns from a futile attempt to pawn his books. The three young men crowd around the stove for warmth, but the paper blaze soon dwindles into ashes.

The musician Schaunard triumphantly appears with firewood, food and money. As he explains his unusual wealth (earned by playing the piano for an eccentric Englishman), the others fall greedily upon the provisions. But Schaunard suggests that they celebrate by going out to dinner in the Latin Quarter.

Their departure is delayed by a surprise visit from the landlord Benoit, who presents them with a bill for overdue rent. Puzzled by their flattery (and several glasses of wine), the old fellow begins to boast of his exploits as a ladies man, but when he lets it slip that he is married, the others, in a fine display of moral outrage, show him forcibly to the door.

Rodolfo’s friends leave for Café Momus, while he stays to finish a newspaper article he has been writing, but he is soon interrupted by a knock at the door; it is a pretty girl from a neighboring apartment, come to ask him to relight her candle, which has

At his urging, she shyly tells him something of herself. Her name is Mimì, and her life, though solitary, is a happy one. She lives in the attic where she makes artificial flowers. It is work and pleasure for her, but her greatest joy comes when the springtime sun makes the real flowers bloom.

From the courtyard below, Rodolfo’s friends call for him impatiently, but he tells them that he and a companion will join them soon at Momus.

As the moonlight floods through the attic window, Rodolfo and Mimì go off together, arm in arm, expressing their newfound rapture.

Act II The streets of the Latin Quarter are filled with a holiday throng of passersby and vendors. Amid the shouts of vendors selling their wares, Rodolfo buys Mimì a bonnet at a gift shop. The toy vendor, Parpignol, passes by, besieged by a group of eager children. Marcello and his friends seize a table at the crowded Café Momus where they are soon joined by Rodolfo and Mimì. The poet presents her as his newfound muse, and she proudly displays the bonnet.

As they settle down to a festive meal, Musetta, a beautiful woman who was once Marcello’s sweetheart, arrives with her latest admirer in tow, the rich and elderly Alcindoro. Distracted by her flighty behavior, the old man is unaware that Musetta, while elaborately snubbing her former flame, is doing her best to win him back. She sings a waltz about how popular she is wherever she goes.

Although he feigns indifference to the seductive waltz she sings, Marcello gradually succumbs. Sure of her victory, Musetta pretends that one of her new shoes is painfully tight and sends the gullible Alcindoro to have it fixed. Free at last, she falls into the painter's open arms, and as the crowd cheers the passing of a regimental band, the young people make their escape, telling the waiter that Alcindoro will pay the bill. A detachment of soldiers march by the café and the Bohemians fall behind just as Alcindoro rushes back with Musetta’s new shoes and finds the bill.

Act III As a snowy February morning dawns on the outskirts of Paris, street sweepers and farm girls pass through the toll gates of the city on their way to work. Inside the tavern of a nearby inn (where Marcello and Musetta have been earning their room and board), a group of all-night revelers join in a drinking song.

Distraught and gravely ill, Mimì calls Marcello outside and begs for his help. She and Rodolfo are on the verge of separation, for although they love each other deeply, his jealous nature is a constant torment to both of them. Aware that Rodolfo has come to see Marcello, Mimì agrees to leave the two friends alone to talk, but when her lover emerges from the inn, she hides nearby and listens to their conversation.

Rodolfo complains bitterly that Mimì’s flirtatious ways have made him doubt her fidelity, but under Marcello’s prodding, he finally confesses the true reason for his anguish. He is desperately afraid that Mimì’s health will soon be broken by the wretched life they share, and although he loves her more than ever, he would rather part from her than cause her death.

Stricken by his words and sobbing helplessly, Mimì gives herself away, just as Marcello, suspicious at the sound of Musetta’s laughter, runs back into the inn. Struggling with her emotions, Mimì tells Rodolfo that she must leave him, and although she will send someone to get her few belongings from the attic, she offers him the bonnet that he bought her as a keepsake.

As the two of them recall the happiness they shared, Marcello and Musetta emerge from the inn quarreling violently. Realizing that they cannot bear the pain of separation, Rodolfo and Mimì decide to stay together – at least till springtime comes – and as their friends exchange a final round of insults, the reconciled lovers slowly head for home.

Act IV It is spring. Parted from their sweethearts, Rodolfo and Marcello have taken up their old life in the garret, seemingly unconcerned that the girls have left them for wealthier admirers. But although they try to work, Rodolfo’s thoughts keep turning to Mimì, and Marcello finds himself obsessively tracing and retracing Musetta's features.

Schaunard and Colline arrive with provisions for a meager meal. Making the best of it, the four young men pretend they are guests at an aristocratic supper, and when Schaunard threatens them with a performance of his latest composition, they quickly elect to “go dancing” instead. Their fun is disrupted when Colline, challenging Schaunard to a duel, touches off a noisy free-for-all.

As the battle rages, Musetta suddenly appears.

Mimì is with her. She is downstairs, deathly ill and longing only to be reunited with Rodolfo. Rodolfo runs downstairs to assist her. Well aware that she is dying, the others rally in support: Marcello and Musetta go out to find medicine and a doctor; Colline, bidding farewell to his treasured overcoat, leaves for the pawnshop; and when Schaunard tactfully withdraws, the lovers are finally alone.

They exchange assurances of their devotion, and when Rodolfo shows Mimì that he has kept and cherished the bonnet she left behind, they tenderly recall the cold and moonlit Christmas Eve when they met and fell in love. As Mimì is afflicted by a violent fit of coughing, the others return.

Musetta has brought Mimì a muff, generously pretending that it is a gift from Rodolfo. Warming her hands inside it, Mimì happily drifts off to sleep. As the others tip-toe about the room, Musetta heats some medicine and prays for Mimì’s recovery. But in a frightened whisper, Schaunard tells Marcello that Mimì has died already. Moments later, Rodolfo, too, realizes what has happened and throws himself despairingly onto her body, calling her name.

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1898 Newspaper Review of La bohème

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d r o c e R a i h p l e d a l i h P 98 ng, May 3, 18 Tuesday morni

cess c u S e n i F a d ,” Score lly worked-up climaxes of theiar a i m e h o B “ , a r y Puccini’s erOa,p“Tehe Bohemians,” was berespenecthtivee accatsre.fuSo the third acent wcoasntalrampuosntt enal tirquelartet

d the fully writt Puccini’s op conciled e in this city an g up to a skill tim in st ad le fir e lovers, the re th of e or s th (f le at ng up su ny co ly pa o tw of reunion ra Com admirab between the g a new hymn tto Italian Ope at in ge bl se ag ar B au w e pl ì th ap im M .

East) by oked stormy Rodolphe and l and Musette ening, and ev reling of Marce ar qu e Broad last ev th . t ce ns agai a large audien d mainly intervals from e acts consiste d to a re te th ea e tr es e th er w of r series But as each music-lovers ese acts in thei e first th th in so , Philadelphia g, ax in im en cl st ev ing lly for of its culminat at the Broad la lyric aration genera a ep lty ” pr ve e, e no m er le m hè a ub bo do “La to be Quarter proves really n of Puccini’s emian t in the Latin tio ac oh uc B od ng of pr di s l lu ca ne nc lo d co s “Sce paration the fourth an d on Murger’ Opera r her last se n te ia af al ì, It o im tt M ge drama founde hich e Bag tressed, garret, to w d and love-dis the debut of th Milan. ar gg om fr ha il s, rn ha tu s Life;” and in , re nger d Illica from Rodolphe se principal si ists Glacosa an takable tt is re m lib un e an th t, ed Company, who ac red a scor to die. In this to have secu and the troupe unique y em rl se lia l cu al pe r e Both the opera se po som Murger’s and the com gh there were cidedly their theme… de on a up s p ha as triumph, althou gr pany ve effect. true dramatic th. The com motley with impressi a s ge ch er Su . em us ly features to bo en Quarter e chor Bohemia sudd , especially th oristers s of the Latin er ch te e ke al us m M fe Italian aspect ur e of ous and We see the Fo tic assemblag , the impecuni he cal stage, lp lo a do Ro on – d and unroman se us es r of the and Café Mom ever, been witn s repl, the painte ce pe ar ty M n ; ia et al It po y has seldom, if ked ctivel mposer of shabbily froc with the distin ulevard unard, the co bo ha Sc ch e; en ur Fr ct and together e pi , th Art,” and great Red Sea the principals aza, and ence of Blue in pl flu n In ila he M a “T resented by e on ld lik – enjoying the symphony garlic for all the wor philosopher of e g tin um rf un pe -h e scene looked ok t th bo fantastically Colline, the sistibly to scen d down ian fashion he er as ug w M i tt ue one began irre he tr spag ng, dance, themselves in se-sprinkled verty, with so ith Mimì w po et of du st id ve and the chee m lo e st ves Mimì, cheerful in th Rodolphe’s fir almost d contrast arri at sa d in an nd , A ul . with chianti… st tif d je beau ty hovers eloquence an is exquisitely ess and Over the jolli tn . ee ep st sw l or na do in his garret io e cept There is a fainting on th vealed the ex adow of death. r… There sh no te pt s ru a’ ab the outstart re in e st th go ohemians unexpectedly or Giuseppe A in last ch the four B hi er w lib in ca l y, ca ed power of Sign vo om l d medicine pitiful tragic-c singer of equa , tranquility, an achieved y th et m ar tir w en e id was no other its ov st in make shift to pr a grisette. ldom though the ca r butterfly of is only too se night’s cast, al tle as lit k g or in w dy ic e at th for oper nari, from the Linda Monta such all-round ly developed ers. Signora di go d ea aie st er rr s ca op ha d ic by simple talent an enjoyed Mimi’s mus nounced by a s real vocal an se e is es lik ss ce eill po an tr am ì,… en r grisette. of the C the Mim start, where he the poor little y difficult role g sl ng tin ou si ri fit ea cu be cr r if in he mot nderness steadily through and naïve leitgradually in te lphe with a s do er ow H Ro gr g. of on tin si rt ac pres her splendor sweethea Her musical ex r lyricism as in sts of sudden he ur a in tb or m ou gn is Si al tle re lit of ith to that act…there dramatic and pathos, w ked contrast ). In the last t ar ng os m ri m sp in e d th as an e w love mad ory to method (thoughts of shing soprano, ing from mem tt da , fli a et l i, xt ca in se ic vo V ct -a tle lit e sweet, second Cleopatra is…a lifelike bitter now th the comical e th ss in le w e a no od r – is fo e ep r lif ish wells d beau of her memory of he r lover’s angu ches her adde he e at th es sp m di as co e st h ju sh at , de encore wherein splendor. and when her sextet won an crescendo of s n al hi ai tr T rt . es cu oe ch le sh or ub rb pinching earned a do forth in a supe he and Mimì to have id sa be duet of Rodolp ay m s these incident call. Each of

The School District of Philadelphia School Reform Commission Pedro A Ramos, Chairman

Sounds of Learning™ was established by a generous grant from The Annenberg Foundation.

Lorene Cary, member Joseph A. Dworetzky, member Feather Houstoun, member Wendell E Pritchett, member Thomas E. Knudsen Acting Superintendent and Chief Recovery Officer

Dennis W. Creedon, Ed.D. Office of Comprehensive Arts Education Director/Principal

Opera Company of Philadelphia David B. Devan General Director and President

Corrado Rovaris Music Director

Michael Bolton Vice President of Community Programs

The Opera Company of Philadelphia is supported by major grants from The William Penn Foundation, The Pew Charitable Trusts, and The Lenfest Foundation.

Additional support is provided by the Independence Foundation and the Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation.

Dedicated funding for the Sounds of Learning™ program has been provided by: $20,000 to $49,999 Hamilton Family Foundation Presser Foundation Universal Health Services Wells Fargo Foundation Anonymous

General operating support provided, in part, by the Philadelphia Cultural Fund.

Michael Bolton Vice President of Community Programs

bolton@operaphila.org Dr. Dan Darigan Curriculum Consultant

$10,000 to $19,999 The ARAMARK Charitable Fund at the Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program Eugene Garfield Foundation The Hirsig Family Fund of the Philadelphia Foundation Lincoln Financial Foundation Morgan Stanley Foundation $5,000 to $9,999 Alpin J. & Alpin W. Cameron Memorial Trust Bank of America Charitable Foundation GlaxoSmithKline The McLean Contributionship

$1,000 to $4,999 Citizens Bank The Opera Company of Philadelphia receives state Louis N. Cassett Foundation arts funding support through a grant from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, Melon Bank, N.A. a state agency funded by the Commonwealth Mutual Fire Foundation of Pennsylvania.

Written and produced by: Opera Company of Philadelphia Community Programs Department ©2012 1420 Locust Street, Suite 210 Philadelphia, PA, U.S.A. 19102 Tel: (215) 893-5927 Fax: (215) 893-7801 www.operaphila.org/learn

Donna Bridy Opera Company Volunteer

Special thanks to: Dr. Dennis W. Creedon Creator, Sounds of Learning™ Curriculum Consultant

Dr. Dan Darigan West Chester University Department of Literacy

Laura Jacoby Tullo Migliorini EMI Records Maureen Lynch Operations Manager Academy of Music

Cornell Wood Head Usher Academy of Music

Academy of Music Ushers Debra Malinics Advertising Design Concept

Kalnin Graphics Printing

Center City Film and Video

2012 2013

Opera Company of Philadelphia

OPERA at the Academy La bohème

Silent Night

The Magic Flute

September 28, 30m, October 3, 5 & 7m

February 8, 10m, 13, 15 & 17m

April 19, 21m, 24, 26 & 28m

2012

2013

2013

OPERA at the Perelman AURORA SERIES Chamber Opera at the Perelman

Owen Wingrave

Powder Her Face

March 13, 15 & 17m, 2012

June 7, 9m, 12, 14 &16m

2013

2013

* The Kimmel Center Presents Curtis Opera Theatre’s production in association with Opera Company of Philadelphia