La bohème

About

The State Opera Chorus and Orchestra

In the last decade of the 19th century, new themes taken over from contemporary realistic literature began appearing in Italian opera. Emil Zola’s literary Naturalism, purged of Romantic idealisation, strove to depict the world with all its attendant suffering, while the same path was also taken by Italian verismo, focusing on themes whose action, replete with passion, many a time led to a violent ending. The Paris-based painter and writer Henry Murger’s book Scenes de la vie de boheme, published in 1851, was a great success and Puccini immediately sensed the enormous dramatic potential in the work.

The moving story of the love between the poet Rodolfo and the tender Mimi, who is not destined to live long, and of the friendship of four young Montmartre artists was an ideal theme for an opera. It was premiered on 1 February 1896 at the Teatro Regio in Turin, conducted by Arturo Toscanini.