Now that we have a little bit on the part of participants about the Summer Opera Project 2009 - Puccini's "La Bohème" - have learned to at regular intervals, small eyes on the background to the opera and the works of composers are thrown .
In this first blog on the background, to be thrown a spotlight on the short stuff of opera, which proves to this day one of the top spots in the worldwide opera repertoire.
It is the first of three operas for which Puccini worked successfully with the duo in their Illica and Giacosa. Because besides the music, took part Puccini also always very hard to develop the plot on the opera stage, in the course of the individual scenes and the dialogues.
for the opera "La Bohème", the three worked the only major success of the Paris literati Mürger Henry (1822-1861), who in his "Scenes de la Vie de Bohème" episodes of Parisian artist creates life. That these images are so realistic and will remain so until it is used in opera by Puccini, is because that Müge himself was a bohemian in Paris, who has joined many of his friends, girlfriends and acquaintances to characters of his novel and his own experience of life as Bohème has incorporated.
All persons appearing were real, existing models. That and the very differentiated and detailed scenery that is developed in the novel and adopted in much of the opera make up a large part of the success of Puccini's opera.
Many of Puccini operas are titled after the name of the heroine (Tosca; Madame Butterfly, Manon, ...). In "La Bohème" Puccini dispense it - although his "Mimi" the strongest and the heart taken heroines at all counts. Despite the strong story of Mimi and Rodolfo is Puccini focus its opera quite clear on the description of an artist's life on the bottom step, which Henry Mürger According to either the precursor to the (artistic) Academy, or (most commonly the case) to the poorhouse and death - this very preliminary stage is what the name "La Bohème" Puccini and what expresses both the libretto and both wanted to express in music. So this is his first opera in which music and drama to keep the balance.
Here is the link to the film segment with Anna Netrebko and Villazon Rollando, "Mimi's death scene", which the gloomy shadows of the bohemian life brings so much to bear.
