Opera by Giacomo Puccini
Libretto by Giuseppe Giacosa and Luigi Illica based on Henri Murger's Scènes de la vie de bohème
In Italian with German and Polish surtitles
Cheeky, cheerful and free - this is how the four young artists Rodolfo, Marcello, Schaunard and Colline imagine their everyday lives. In order to save on rent, they have quickly set up a shared flat. They skillfully distance themselves from the bourgeois world around them and celebrate their artistry. These four bohemians are joined for a winter by the seamstress Mimì, with whom Rodolfo falls in love, and Musetta, who returns to her former lover Marcello after a brief affair with a rich dandy. But while Musetta overwhelms Marcello with her constant need for amusement, Rodolfo does not want to take responsibility for Mimì, who is suffering from tuberculosis. Shortly before her death, she appears one last time in the four friends' cramped apartment and, together with Rodolfo, once again conjures up the idyll of days gone by before she dies in his arms. Four helpless dream dancers remain behind.
For his fourth opera, Giacomo Puccini had his two lyricists Giuseppe Giacosa and Luigi Illcia compile individual excerpts from Henri Murger's serial novel Scènes de la vie de bohème. Puccini's contrasting music, which takes into account the bohemians' exuberant temperament as well as the melancholy moments of the plot, gives the work its great impact. The composer skilfully coordinated the musical material entirely with the opera's scenic events, thus ensuring its continued success to this day.
