Program

Giacomo Puccini, La Bohème

Act I

I: "Questo Mar Rosso"

I: "Pensier profondo"

I: "Si può?"

I: "Io resto"

I: "Chi è là?"

I: "Si sente meglio?"

I: "Che gelida manina" (Rodolfo)

I: "Sì, mi chiamano Mimi" (Mimi)

I: "O soave fanciulla"

Act II

II: "Arranci, datteri!"

II: "Chi guardi?"

II: "Viva Parpignol"

II: "Quando m'en vo' soletta"

II: "Chi l'ha richiesto?"

Act III

III: "Ohè, là, le guardie!"

III: "Sa dirmi, scusi"

III: "Mimi! - Speravo di trovarti qui"

III: "Marcello. Finalmente!"

III: "Mimi è una civetta"

III: "Mimi è tanto malata!"

III: "Donde lieta uscì"

III: "Dunque è proprio finita!"

Act IV

IV: "In un coupé?"

IV: "O Mimi, tu più non torni"

IV: "Gavotta!"

IV: "C'è Mimi..."

IV: "Vecchia Zimarra, senti"

IV: "Sono andati"

IV: "Che ha detto il medico?"

Puccini's La Bohème

Floris Visser (stage director), Jordan de Souza (music direction) — With Yaritza Véliz (Mimi), Vuvu Mpofu (Musette), Long Long (Rodolfo)...

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Cast

Floris Visser — Stage director

Dieuweke van Reij — Set designer

Jon Morrell — Costume designer

Pim Veulings — Choreographer

Alex Brok — Lighting designer

Klaus Bertisch — Dramaturgy

Long Long — Rodolfo

Daniel Scofield — Marcello

Program notes

Rediscover La Bohème, one of the world’s favorite operas known for its striking blend of realism and tragedy, in a spectacular 2022 Glyndebourne staging by Floris Visser. Composed between 1892 and 1895, this Italian opera masterpiece was inspired by Henri Murger’s Scènes de la vie de bohème (Scenes of Bohemian Life), a collection of stories that depict the hopes and struggles of “Bohemian” artists and dreamers living in 1840s Paris. The opera’s libretto, written by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa, centers around the powerful — and ultimately tragic — love affair between Mimi, a young seamstress (Yaritza Véliz), and Rodolfo, a poet based on Murger himself (Long Long). The hardships and poverty of 1920s Paris are reflected in a minimalist color palette of muted greys that infuses both Dieuweke van Reij’s sets and award-winning designer Jon Morrell’s costumes. An inevitable darkness looms in the background as a constant reminder of young Mimi’s inescapable and tragic fate.

A closer look: featured composers

Giacomo Puccini

Further listening: featured works

La Bohème

Giacomo Puccini (Composer)