La bohème | Ruggero Leoncavallo
Puccini was not the only composer to write an opera based on the Scènes de la vie de bohème by Henri Murger: Ruggero Leoncavallo also, in those same years, devoted an opera to the adventures, pranks, loves, and sorrows of the young bohemians of Paris. Time has favored Puccini’s version, which has remained firmly in the repertoire, while Leoncavallo’s version, premiered a year later in 1897, has been forgotten. Right here at the Regio, the birthplace of Puccini’s masterpiece, La bohème by Leoncavallo is presented again to the public in a rare staging, offering the chance to observe Marcello, Rodolfo, Colline, Schaunard, and a city teeming with life from a different perspective—one more faithful to Murger’s text and perhaps also more realistic, yet with music that does not forgo melodic effusion, a taste for pastiche, and the rapid succession of moments of playful lightness and dramatic intensity: all elements in which the composer of Pagliacci has few rivals. The female characters also include Eufemia, who joins the contrasting figures of Mimì and Musetta, portrayed respectively by Francesca Dotto and Anna Goryachova. Rodolfo and Marcello have vocal roles reversed compared to Puccini’s version: here the tenor is Marcello, performed by Matteo Lippi, while Rodolfo is the baritone Alessandro Luongo. With this production, Francesco Micheli offers a further interpretation of Leoncavallo’s theatrical universe and the bohemian story. From the podium, Andrea Battistoni continues his exploration of Italian musical verismo.
Lecture-Concert: Wednesday 21 Octorber at 6 pm - Piccolo Regio Puccini
Lyric comedy in four acts
Characters and cast
Matteo Lippi
Arseny Yakovlev
Anna Goryachova
Lamia Beuque
Alessandro Luongo
Mario Cassi
Francesca Dotto
Sara Cortolezzis
Simone Del Savio
Ramiro Maturana
Francesco Salvadori
Alfonso Mujica
Matteo Peirone
Pablo Gálvez
Manuela Custer
Manuel Pierattelli
Roberto Covatta
Nicola Pamio
Adrian Autard (Regio Ensemble)
Performances
Synopsis
atto
In a café in Paris, on the evening of Christmas Eve, four eccentric and penniless artists—Marcello, Schaunard, Rodolfo, and Colline—celebrate and toast cheerfully in the company of Mimì, Eufemia, and Musette. The innkeeper, who already dislikes the group, flies into a rage when Marcello and Rodolfo realize they cannot pay the bill. In the midst of an amusing quarrel, in which the four artists quote the great figures of classical literature while the innkeeper insists on being paid, the wealthy Barbemuche enters the scene and offers to settle the bill as a “true friend of artists.” The innkeeper is overjoyed, while the seven bohemians remain astonished. To give a sense of justice to such generosity, Rodolfo proudly challenges Barbemuche to a game of billiards: only if Rodolfo wins will the wealthy Barbemuche treat the cheerful company to dinner. Rodolfo wins the match, and the group of friends accepts the offered meal without their pride or their high spirits being wounded. During the game, Marcello declares his love to Musette who, while warning him of her emotional unreliability, agrees to become his companion.
atto
It is springtime, when the love between Marcello and Musette is stronger than ever. However, the banker who supports Musette does not accept this relationship and takes her apartment away, having the furniture seized. Musette, who had planned to organize a party in her apartment, finds the door closed and all the furniture in the courtyard. The bohemian spirit of improvisation leads Musette and Marcello to organize a party in the building’s courtyard. Nobles, knights, and men of letters enjoy the celebration under the stars until the neighbors, angered by the noise, rise up and drive the guests out of the courtyard. During the party, a young nobleman courts Mimì and promises her every luxury if she follows him. Mimì is uncertain and already knows she will miss the bohemian life. Nevertheless, she yields to the young Viscount’s request and follows him into his carriage, which sets off toward the horizon.
atto
In Marcello and Rodolfo’s apartment, at the end of summer, Musette writes a heart-wrenching letter to Marcello informing him that she is leaving him because she can no longer endure the hunger and hardships of a life devoted solely to art. Before fleeing, she meets Mimì who, in the opposite situation, wants to give up the comforts offered by the young Viscount in order to live only for her love of Rodolfo. Marcello overhears their conversation while hiding behind the stairs and becomes convinced that it was Mimì who persuaded Musette to choose money over love. Rodolfo also enters the scene and, outraged by Marcello’s accusations against Mimì, drives her away; she leaves together with Musette.
atto
The scene opens in the bohemians’ apartment, where they nostalgically recall how joyful and full of hope the previous Christmas had been. Marcello confesses that he has written a letter to Musette, in which he implores her to return to him, at least for one last day. As the four men are speaking, Mimì knocks at the door, near death and torn by coughing. The four men light a fire to offer Mimì some comfort. Meanwhile, Musette enters and gives up her jewelry to pay for a doctor and medicine for Mimì. All efforts, however, will be in vain, as Mimì will die shortly afterward in the arms of her Rodolfo.