"Che gelida manina" (1896)
The poet's Act I aria — "what a frozen little hand" — introducing himself in the dark
Recording: Unknown · Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
Opera · Italian opera
La bohème
1 February 1896, Teatro Regio, Turin
Giacomo Puccini · libretto by Illica and Giacosa
Four broke young men share a freezing Paris garret; a neighbour's candle goes out, a key is lost in the dark, and a poet and a seamstress fall in love in the space of two arias and a duet. Two acts later she comes back to the same garret to die.
How to spot them
- ▸Paris, around 1830: a garret, the Café Momus at Christmas, a toll gate in the snow, and a muff
- ▸A poet, a painter, a musician and a philosopher; tenor and soprano lovers, with a flirtatious second soprano
- ▸The famous moment: a landlord's candle blows out, two hands touch searching for a key, and the tenor begins "your tiny hand is frozen"
- ▸Quiz clues: Henri Murger, Turin 1896, Toscanini conducting, and the musical Rent
Arias & moments — listen
"Sì, mi chiamano Mimì" (1896)
Her reply: she embroiders flowers that have no scent, and waits for the first sun of April
Recording: Giacomo Puccini (1858–1924); Claudia Muzio (1889–1936) · Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
"O soave fanciulla" (1896)
The Act I love duet, the pair drifting offstage to a high C
Recording: Enrico Caruso (1873–1921)), Nellie Melba (1861–1931) Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924) · Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
"Quando me'n vo'" — Musetta's Waltz (1896)
The second soprano parades her admirers outside the Café Momus to win back the painter
Recording: Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924), Luigi Illica (1857–1919) and Giuseppe Giacosa (1847-1906) · Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
"Vecchia zimarra" — the Coat Song (1896)
The philosopher says goodbye to the old overcoat he is about to pawn for medicine
Recording: Feodor Chaliapin (1873–1938) · Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
"Donde lieta uscì" (1896)
Mimì's Act III farewell, asking for her few things to be sent on — "addio, senza rancor"
Recording: Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924), Nellie Melba (1861-1931). · Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
"O Mimì, tu più non torni" (1896)
In the empty garret the poet and the painter each admit they cannot work for missing the women who left
Recording: Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924) Enrico Caruso (1873-1921) Antonio Scotti (1866-1936) · Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
Quick-fire facts
- •The premiere was at the Teatro Regio, Turin, on 1 February 1896, conducted by the 28-year-old Arturo Toscanini.
- •The source is Henri Murger's Scènes de la vie de bohème (1851), a set of sketches rather than a novel.
- •The librettists were Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa, who also wrote Tosca and Madama Butterfly for Puccini.
- •The bohemians are Rodolfo the poet (tenor), Marcello the painter (baritone), Colline the philosopher (bass) and Schaunard the musician (baritone).
- •Ruggero Leoncavallo set the same source a year later; Puccini's version won, and the two composers fell out over it.
- •Mimì dies of consumption in Act IV; the others realise only from Musetta's reaction, and Rodolfo cries her name twice as the curtain falls.
- •Toscanini made the first complete recording of it in 1946, fifty years after conducting the premiere.
- •Jonathan Larson's musical Rent (1996) transposes the plot to New York's East Village in the AIDS era.
- •Act III is set at the Barrière d'Enfer, a Paris customs gate, in falling snow.
Drill it — 9 cards
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Sources
- Grove Music Online (Oxford University Press) — Bohème, La
- Julian Budden — Puccini: His Life and Works
- Stanley Sadie (ed.) — The New Grove Dictionary of Opera