La Bohème
Giacomo Puccini
(1896)

 
Puccini’s masterpiece, La Bohème is one of the most famously melodious of all operas and is regarded as one of the top ten operas in the world.

Opera North’s production, first directed by Phyllida Lloyd, whose stage production and film of the musical Mama Mia! have created global phenomenon, returns to entertain new audiences after almost a decade.

Set in the grimy, tumultuous Paris of the 1950’s, Mimi, a consumptive seamstress and poet, Roldolfo instantly fall in love but are inevitably torn apart by Mimi’s incurable illness.

This story of impossible young love, heartbreak and regret is revived by a cast of the best young international talent, including the French soprano Anne Sophie Duprels (Madama Butterfly 2007), Turkish tenor Bülent Bezduz, Polish baritone Marcin Bronikowski and French bass Frédéric Burreau.

Opera North’s Music Director, Richard Farnes conducts.

Sung in Italian with English titles
Lasts approximately 2 hours 15 minutes

"…its radicalism remains powerful and immediate, and you would still be hard pressed to find a production of Puccini's masterpiece that offers quite so challenging and cogent an interpretation as this." Tim Ashley, The Guardian

"Musically, the production is rooted in outstanding ensemble work, in which no one puts a foot wrong. Instead of treating us to fits and starts of exaggerated passion, conductor Richard Farnes allows emotions to grow and deepen." Tim Ashley, The Guardian

"The glory of this show is the conducting of Richard Farnes. Splendidly robust and muscular, his musical direction also uncovers numerous details of Puccini’s orchestration that are too often obscured." Hilary Finch, The Times

"Every time Mimì’s theme appears, it really does make the breath catch. And the long woodwind cry and numb string chords as Rodolfo describes to Marcello Mimì’s illness freeze even the falling snow." Hilary Finch, The Times

"Anne Sophie Dupreis is a captivating Mimì. The appearance of Sarah Fox’s worldly Musetta in the second act is beautifully staged in the midst of some nicely choreographed, witty crowd scenes and a set which advances and revolves in cinematic fashion." Graham Rickson, The Arts Desk

"The approach, almost televisual in pace and style- the comic harrying of the landlord, the bustling incident of Café Momus- works well in this revival, staged with remarkable freshness by Peter Relton." Robert Cockroft, Yorkshire Post


 

In Italian:
Leontina Vaduva - Mimì
Roberto Alagna – Rodolfo
Thomas Hampson – Marcello
Ruth Ann Swenson – Musetta
London Voices/Philharmonia Orchestra
Antonio Pappano – conductor
EMI Classics 58650 2, 2CDs, mid-price, no libretto

In English:
Cynthia Haymon – Mimì
Dennis O’Neill – Rodolfo
Alan Opie – Marcello
Marie McLaughlin – Musetta
Geoffrey Mitchell Choir/Philharmonia Orchestra
David Parry – conductor
Chandos CHAN 3008(2), 2CDs, mid-price, English libretto

Aldo di Toro (Rodolfo)

Can you tell us a bit about your character, Rodolfo?
Ok, we know Rodolfo is a writer for a newspaper journal but likes to introduce himself as a poet.  When we meet him at the start of the opera all is not going well for him.  Rodolfo is an uncomplicated guy who enjoys having a good time with his mates, however, he is feeling restless and yearns for a deeper experience. He can feel that something special is about to happen to him. I think of Tony's song from Westside Story – ‘Something's Coming’ - this song, for me, sums up Rodolfo at the start of the opera perfectly. He becomes a confident young man when he meets Mimì and he soon falls ingenuously in love with her. When he learns that she is gravely ill he is so overwhelmed by the fear of her certain death that he denies his feelings for her to avoid the inevitable. Rodolfo is a guy who wears his heart on his sleeve.   
 

Before taking on Rodolfo, you have been performing the role of Alfredo in La Traviata. What attracts you to the emotional and powerful operas?
I adore the music of Puccini and Verdi and I believe their operas give us lyric tenors the best roles to sing! I enjoy being those characters on stage: Rodolfo, Alfredo, Romeo, Werther, Edgardo, Nemorino, Il Duca, Faust, Elvino, Arturo, Lenski and Tamino just to name a few! But for me, when performing the emotional and powerful operas I prefer to keep it simple because the secrets and solutions are all there to discover in the original score.  

In your opinion, what makes La Bohème one of the world’s best loved operas?
Youth and innocence. It's an opera for the young at heart. There is nothing evil or nasty in La Bohème. Mimì's terrible disease and eventual death is heartbreaking for everyone on stage and in the audience. These young characters have to deal with (or not deal with) this tragedy. The melodies tear through even the hardest of hearts. La Bohème is not a long opera. The orchestration is beautiful and the timing between the drama and the comedy provides a sweet balance between darkness and hope. I also think we can't deny the Italian opera appeal – La Bohème is classic Italian from head to toe!

What are you most looking forward to about starting rehearsals for La Bohème?
Leading up to rehearsals I look forward to the whole unknown experience - like going to see a movie you know nothing or very little about! I know that it's set in 1950's Paris and there are three sets of lovers: of course there's Rodolfo-Mimì, Marcello-Musetta, and in this production, Colline-Schaunard (which I think is unusual because I always believe that Schaunard is also deeply in love with Mimì).

I’m also looking forward to meeting my fellow performers and conductor at Opera North - my colleagues who will perform with me during the Summer season.

Finally, why do you think people should come and see the show?
There's something magical about the music that I can't explain in words. I think the melodies are timeless and remind us of our youthful dreams and hopes. I was enchanted the first time I heard this opera and I never grow tired of it. Rodolfo has always been a dream part for me and I'm thrilled it's my debut role for Opera North.

Sarah Fox (Mimì)

What are you most looking forward to about your return to the production in the new role of Mimì?
First and foremost, I am looking forward to having the opportunity to sing Mimì, which is a fantastic role. This is made even more exciting by the fact that I’ll be doing it at home in Yorkshire. I’m also looking forward to working with Peter Relton again as he’s a wonderful director. He is very clear and quick and allows you the freedom to develop the part as you want, while still remaining faithful to Phyllida’s original wishes. His terrific sense of humour also means that there’s always a great atmosphere in the rehearsal room, which enables you to give your best.

Can you tell us about some of the challenges involved in making the transition from Musetta to Mimì?
Well, I am actually more familiar with the role of Mimì, having sung it last Autumn in Norway. Musetta was uncharted territory for me, and it’s always strange coming to an opera you’re so familiar with and seeing it from a different angle. After a while, though, you are able to forget about the change and just focus on your job. The only thing you have to guard against is having a sudden lapse of concentration and singing the wrong line! The biggest challenge involved in singing Mimì is probably the beginning of Act 3; the scoring is so powerful that you have to rely on your conductor to a certain degree to maintain the right balance between orchestra and voices.

What do you consider some of the highlights of the production?
It’s difficult to choose a particular highlight as the whole production is so wonderful. It is as true and honest and youthful as the opera rightfully should be. I do think that the scenes featuring the children are quite special because the children involved are really brilliant and this doesn’t always happen! They were terrific throughout the 14 shows we did last season and it will be a pleasure to work with them again.

Why do you think people love La Bohème so much?
I think people love it because there is something in it for everyone. The music is beautiful and so many people are familiar with it, even if they don’t realise it; the story is emotional and affecting but also includes a lot of lighthearted moments; there is an authenticity to it that doesn’t require you to suspend your disbelief in order to relate to it, and all of this is contained within just two hours! It is both a perfect introduction to opera and a piece that will always be special to opera lovers.

 

Phyllida Lloyd (original director)

Fresh from receiving her CBE, we talk to award winning director Phyllida Lloyd (Gloriana, Peter Grimes) to find out more about her inspiration for this hugely popular production of La Bohème.

What is it that you love about opera in general and what attracted you to La Bohème as a director in particular?
Opera is an extreme sport – hard to perform and hard to direct if you are truly striving for a sense that the singers are ‘composing’ the opera as it unfolds.

One of the many remarkable things about La Bohème is its spectrum of expression from student life in all its knockabout messiness (the ‘verismo’ part of it if you like) to the most astonishing outpourings of the arias, duets and ensembles. Take for example Rodolfo’s first encounter with Mimì. Where do their first arias come from? It is the stuff of dreams. It gives a director and the singers an extraordinary spectrum of possibilities from the quotidian and ordinary to the completely epic and often one followed quickly by the other.

Do you have a highlight in the show, something you were really looking forward to when directing it?
The action of the opera takes me straight back to my student days. Six of us lived in a house and for a long time we behaved really very irresponsibly. There was a lot of music, dressing up and being very, very silly. We were just in denial that life was going to throw up anything serious whatsoever. Then one night one of us became seriously ill. We had allowed the electricity to be cut off and when the ambulance came they were suspicious as to whether we had the right to be in the house. In that moment all our worlds changed.
I have always loved the last act of the opera and the way in which Puccini builds the silliness and exuberance right up to the moment when Mimì is carried in. I loved working on that last section, watching the action unfold in the room, really asking each singer to draw on their life experience and not let any fragment of received ‘operatic’ behaviour get in the way.

What can an audience coming to this production of La Bohème expect?
Well, I always wanted the production to speak to all generations, especially younger people who might have been put off by the idea of opera. This is not a question of dumbing down, but of building a world on stage that was so detailed, so well acted that the audience could not but identify with it. There are also some fabulous ‘coup de theatre’ for which Anthony Ward (designer) must be held responsible!

How does directing an opera like La Bohème compare to directing a musical like Mamma Mia! - what was your approach to the production?
I approach all productions in the same way.  A West End musical and an opera production are both huge collaborative endeavours and the director is required to bring all the elements together. I didn’t have to learn the text in a foreign language with Mamma Mia! but there was a huge amount of dramaturgical work required in advance of rehearsal with the writer to make the piece cohere. In both productions you want what is eventually a minutely choreographed evening to seem utterly spontaneous. You are trying to get the performers to own the experience. In both productions the performers are profoundly aware of a conductor in the pit but it must never seem that way. 

What made you decide to set this production in the 1950s?
Anthony Ward and I were inspired by great French photography of Paris in the post World War II period by Brassai, Cartier-Bresson, Doisneau and the Dutch photographer Ed van der Elsken. Images of broken people - war veterans, beggars, prostitutes etc were set against vast canvases of movie posters promising great romance. We were also struck by the cinematic nature of the score. No overture – just plunged straight into the worlds. Each act seemed as if the action had come from four photographs that had fallen from an album -  ‘The night I met Mimì’. ‘That Christmas night at the Café Momus’. ‘The night we got back to together’. ‘The night Mimì died.’  

In your opinion, what is it about La Bohème that makes it one of the world’s best loved operas?
Well, it’s rather the same as Mamma Mia! - every song is a hit! Seriously though, I really do think it’s the mixture of the ordinary and the epic. A portrait of the ordinariness of daily life in all its absurd minutiae juxtaposed with epic passion and the catastrophe of death. We are drawn to the characters through the simplest details like not having enough wood for the stove or needing a light from a neighbour and then taken to the most extremes of feeling as if to say ‘this is in all of us’.

Act 1

Paris, the Latin Quarter, Christmas Eve, c. 1830. Marcello, an artist, and Rodolfo, a poet, are joined in their garret by the philosopher Colline and the musician Schaunard, who bring food and drink. Rodolfo burns some of his manuscripts to keep them warm. The landlord Benoit arrives, demanding rent, but they ply him with wine and trick him into believing they are, in fact, well-off. He leaves empty handed. All leave for a café, except Rodolfo, who promises to join them when he has finished a piece he is writing. Left to himself he is interrupted by a knock on the door. It is Mimi, a consumptive seamstress, in need of a light for her candle. Within minutes, they have fallen in love.
 

Act 2

At the Café Momus Rodolfo introduces Mimi to his friends, including Musetta, who is attended by an elderly admirer, Alcindoro. When she notices Marcello, an ex lover of hers, Musetta creates a scene to get rid of Alcindoro. When the bill arrives, no one can pay it. As a military band passes, they escape into the crowd. Alcindoro returns to find nothing but the Bohemians’ huge bill.
 

Act 3

A few weeks later, Mimi comes to the inn looking for Rodolfo, but finds Marcello instead. She tells him of Rodolfo’s terrible jealousy, but when Rodolfo arrives she retreats to hear him give Marcello his version of their problem: he at first calls her a “heartless creature”, but then reveals his inability to endure life with a woman who is incurably ill. When her coughing alerts Rodolfo to her presence, they agree – albeit regretfully – to part company. Simultaneously, Marcello and Musetta begin squabbling over the latter’s infidelity, and they too decide to split up.
 

Act 4

In their garret Rodolfo and Marcello unhappily remember the women they have abandoned. The atmosphere warms when Colline and Schaunard arrive, but their good humour is shattered by the news that Mimi is alone and near death. She has asked to spend her last hours with Rodolfo. When she is brought in, Marcello leaves to sell Musetta’s earrings for medicine, and Colline decides to sell his coat. Mimi dies as Rodolfo is looking out of the window. Thinking she is asleep, Rodolfo attends to her comfort until he realizes that Mimi is dead. Sobbing he throws himself on top of her body.

• Listen to an excerpt from La Bohème, EMI Classics

  (Lasts approximately 30 secs)

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