The Royal Opera: Puccini's La boheme

OPERATIC SINGING

Tonight, snow is softly falling on the stage of the Royal Opera House,

as we are transported to a winter's day in 19th-century Paris.

La boheme is one of

the world's favourite operas

and here at the Royal Opera House we

have a real theatrical event ahead.

A brand-new production -

the very first at Covent Garden in over 40 years.

And it's directed by

one of the stars of British theatre, Richard Jones.

At the helm of the orchestra tonight

is the Royal Opera's music director, Antonio Pappano.

And a brilliant young cast has assembled to play

the bunch of bohemians who live and love in 19th-century Paris.

Boheme is just a story about friends and people who fall in love.

It really is perfect music crafted by Puccini.

There's a poetry, there's a beauty,

and then there's a burning passion through it all.

The opera deals with the ordinary lives of ordinary people.

The librettists, Giuseppe Giacosa and Luigi Illica,

took inspiration from a French novel, Scenes Of A Bohemian Life,

to create an unforgettable story about a group of aspiring artists

living in a freezing Parisian garret.

Into their world comes a beautiful young seamstress,

battling a terrible disease.

In the story of Boheme, the four flatmates live in poverty.

I mean, they have nothing. It's a battle just to find

a baguette that's a couple of days old.

THEY SPEAK IN ITALIAN

There are bohemian people looking for something to eat,

for some fun, for music

and good, crazy times.

THEY SING IN ITALIAN

I just think that they come up with a way of surviving, through jokes

and having fun, in order to mask the problem that they live with.

HE SINGS IN ITALIAN

Marcello is a guy who is full of energy -

crazy, young man who is a painter.

In love with another crazy person, Musetta.

And she is his muse.

SHE SINGS IN ITALIAN

Musetta is the most mythical of all the characters, just like Venus.

She is passionate, she loves chaos.

Very good at castrating men's egos.

Rodolfo is a poet. He knows his way around words.

He's on the verge of maybe writing his epic next piece.

So when he hears a woman knock on the door

and then invites her in, to him, it's a shock.

SHE SINGS IN ITALIAN

When Mimi comes in, she is excitable

and she wants to experience the joys of life,

and so when she meets the bohemians and sees how different they all are

and what they have to offer, you know, it's a thrill for her.

HE SINGS IN ITALIAN

What unfolds for the next 15 minutes is a dialogue between

both Rodolfo and Mimi, telling each of their stories.

It's that first beautiful love, it's that innocent love,

where at the beginning nothing can go wrong.

They don't believe that anything is going to happen down the track.

They're strong characters, each one carved out of marble.

And the cast are all very rich in detail in their characterisations.

Then strings. Can I have just one, please?

-And one...

-STRINGS PLAY

It's when you go from pizz to arco, there, the singing...

HE SINGS

..that the culture of that. It's just, "Da-duh!"

And you get that, OK? Once again.

We've all performed in La boheme in before.

And at the beginning of the rehearsal,

we decided we were going to start afresh.

Exactly. And that'll help the musicality of the whole thing.

And look into each word and try to find the true character.

OPERATIC SINGING

Puccini is one of the most intelligent composers

when it comes to writing emotion.

The tunes are just sublime.

The arias reveal the essence of each character.

This is unique.

He is a master at reincarnating themes

and sometimes they're even hidden.

They're hidden with different instruments

and layered-in to other music.

And you don't realise it until you see emerge

a character that's relevant to that theme.

The emotion that Puccini manages to put into the scores

just speaks to my heart.

You can put so much of yourself into it,

so it's an exhausting night in the theatre, but such a satisfying one.

THEY DUET IN ITALIAN

APPLAUSE

MUSIC STARTS

THEY LAUGH

THUD

HE LAUGHS

LAUGHTER

-Bravo!

-Bravo!

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

APPLAUSE

APPLAUSE

THEY CHATTER

MUSIC STARTS

SHE SCREAMS

APPLAUSE

MUSIC STARTS

SHE COUGHS

SHE COUGHS

BELL PEALS

SHE SOBS

APPLAUSE

MUSIC STARTS

HE LAUGHS

HE CALLS

SHE COUGHS

HE SOBS

# Mimi

# Mimi. #

HE SOBS

APPLAUSE

CHEERING

CHEERING

CHEERING

CHEERING

CHEERING