About the Production
The life of a group of young artists in 19th century Paris. A love story between the poet Rodolfo and his neighbor Mimi, a poor seamstress.
Their relationship goes through ups and downs as they share the joys and challenges of an artist's life with their friends Marcello, Musetta, Schaunard and Colline. But tragic circumstances and the poverty of the times put their love to the test. A timeless story of love, loss and the pursuit of beauty.
La Bohème
Storyline
Christmas Eve in the poor garret inhabited by four young artists will hardly differ from any other evening:
Marcello is working on a painting, Rodolfo, poet and writer, is gazing over the rooftops of Paris. They have no money, they are cold and yet they are in good spirits. A bundle of manuscripts only heats the stove for a few moments. Colline, a philosopher by trade, returns home without having achieved anything - the pawnshop was closed.
But the fourth, Schaunard, the musician, is luckier. He tells stories, no one listens - the food he has brought promises a merry Christmas. But Schaunard wants it differently - they go out on Christmas Eve. Danger still looms: the landlord knocks and demands the rent. A glass of wine and the friendliness of the artists cause him to stumble into the trap; with a wink, he talks of a love adventure, reason enough for the friends to show him the door with well-played moral indignation.
Rodolfo stays to finish an article while the others go ahead to Café Momus. There is a knock: a young woman is outside, she wants to light the extinguished candle. Tormented by a cough, she collapses. Then, grateful for the help she has been given, she wants to leave again; but the key to the apartment has been lost, not entirely by chance, and the draught has extinguished all the lights. The hands are found in the darkness. She is called Mimì, she lets them know, she embroiders flowers... Outside, friends are calling.
Christmas Eve has lost its gloom.
The student district of Paris presents a colorful picture. Crowds of people roam the streets. Rodolfo buys his Mimì a bonnet and invites her to the Café Momus, introduces her to his friends and enjoys their admiration.
The student district of Paris presents a colorful picture. Crowds of people roam the streets. Rodolfo buys his Mimì a bonnet and invites her to the Café Momus, introduces her to his friends and enjoys their admiration.
Only Marcello has grief and his grief has a name: Musetta. She appears at the side of an old and rich gallant with the firm intention of pulling out all the stops in the art of seduction. Marcello is unable to cope with this public onslaught and an old, great love is rekindled.
A gloomy February morning at the customs barrier that separates a Parisian suburb from the city center.
Workers, carters and milkwomen are let through and pass by the tavern, which is adorned with a half-finished painting of Marcello. The wind seems to carry Musetta's voice. It is cold, Mimì has had an argument with Rodolfo, Marcello is supposed to mediate. Rodolfo seems to be running away from her, she doesn't know why.
Marcello does not suspect the real reasons either; Rodolfo reveals them to him: Mimì is terminally ill, she only has a short time to live and he cannot bear to see her suffer. He has to endure even more: Mimì has overheard her death sentence, a fit of coughing betrays her presence. And Rodolfo's love succeeds in doing the hardest thing: softening his despair, bringing peace to his tortured heart. Strange contrast: Marcello and Musetta. Their love seems to seek out conflict.
Three or four months have passed. Marcello and Rodolfo have lost their lovers. They sit at work thinking. Where is Musetta, where is Mimì? Can the carefree days of yesteryear be repeated?
It almost seems so: as soon as Schaunard and Collin arrive with a few poor provisions, the mood improves; they try to bring out the old cheerfulness, play theater, dance, duel... Musetta brings Mimì in.
Mimì is marked by death. Everyone tries to help her; she gratefully recognizes her friends. Musetta and Marcello are united by her gaze. Musetta sacrifices her earrings to fulfill the sick woman's last wish: a muff. And Collin, a philosopher with a heart, transfers his old coat. Rodolfo stays with the dying woman; they are alone with their memories. The friends return with their gifts, a final joy for Mimì. She slumbers gently away.
Franco Zeffirelli's well-known, indeed famous production has been on the repertoire of the Vienna State Opera for more than half a century. Generations of opera-goers have followed the tragic and cheerful lives of the young people in an atmospheric and detailed stage setting. Zeffirelli tells the story of the tender budding of love between Mimì and Rodolfo with a view of the couple that is as touching as it is unpathetic, occasionally mixing in comedy - which is not too heavy-handed - and offering picturesque images in the crowd scenes in order to skillfully capture the winter mood in the third scene, which is also expressed musically. His setting of the tragic finale is a prime example of skillful restraint: we see people on stage whose suffering not only touches us, but hits us - there is no better way to capture Puccini's masterpiece in images.
Musically, Puccini captured the events in a complex and richly pictorial musical language that immediately captivates the audience. Here the hustle and bustle of the crowds, there the tender rapprochement of the lovers, then again the great happiness of love and just as much pain: a cosmos that constantly enchants and captivates the audience. For example, when Mimì sings of the dawning spring in her great aria in the first scene, Puccini lets the singing and the orchestra shine and takes the audience into Mimì's world; and when he has Rodolfo sing of his life as a poet, you are completely with the poet, in his poor but youthful and proud life. It is therefore hardly surprising that Thomas Mann also referred to the special qualities of this opera in his The Magic Mountain.
One of the biggest opera scandals in the Second Republic, the cancellation of the premiere of the current production of La bohème in 1963, was sparked by the prompter. The Italian singers, who were used to finding a maestro suggeritore, a kind of prompting sub-conductor, in the prompter's box, had also demanded one for their performances at the Vienna Opera. Karajan approved the engagement of such a maestro suggeritore, but the works council did not. As the two fronts became increasingly entrenched, it finally came to a scandal: the audience that had already attended the premiere had to be sent home again and the premiere of La bohème was postponed for a few days. An artistic affair has become a headline-generating, general topic of conversation.
