SYNOPSIS IN A MINUTE

Set against the exhilaration and poverty of 19th-century bohemian Paris, poet Rodolfo falls in love with the fragile Mimì, while his painter friend Marcello reunites with his former flame Musetta. Jealousy plagues both couples and they break up. Mimì, deathly ill with tuberculosis, returns to Rodolfo, only to die in his arms.

 

FULL SYNOPSIS

 

ACT I

It is Christmas Eve in Paris. Two poverty-stricken young artists, Marcello, a painter, and Rodolfo, a poet, attempt to work in their freezing garret; in desperation they burn one of Rodolfo’s dramas to keep warm. Their two roommates, Colline, a philosopher, and Schaunard, a musician, return home. Even though Schaunard has brought food, the four bohemians decide to eat their Christmas dinner in the Latin Quarter. Just then, Benoît, their landlord, arrives to demand his overdue rent. The men ply him with drink and, when he boasts of marital indiscretions, they feign moral indignation and throw him out. Marcello, Colline, and Schaunard leave for the Latin Quarter. Rodolfo, always the loner, promises to join them after finishing some work, but a knock on the door interrupts him. Mimì, a young neighbour, enters in search of a light for her candle. Clearly ill, and breathless from the stairs, she faints and drops her room key. Rodolfo is entranced by her and, when she recovers, manages to detain her by concealing the key. Either by accident or design, both their candles go out, and as they search in the darkness for the lost key, their hands touch. Both of them solitary, both poetic, they are instantly attracted, and gratefully declare their love before leaving to join Rodolfo’s friends.

[Rodolfo has told Mimì about himself, and then he listens to her story. Then they join in a passionate and ecstatic love duet; after all, Puccini was the master of the form!]

ACT II

A festive crowd celebrates Christmas Eve in the Latin Quarter. At the Café Momus, Rodolfo introduces Mimì to his roommates. Their carefree mood changes when Musetta, Marcello’s former lover, appears with Alcindoro, her aging sugar-daddy. Musetta, still in love with Marcello, attempts to attract his attention. 

[Musetta’s aria, “Quando m’en vo,” is a much-loved waltz-time melody and introduces Musetta as a flirtatious and focus-pulling personality!]

Marcello deliberately ignores her but eventually cannot resist her obvious play for him. Musetta shrewdly gets rid of the besotted Alcindoro and leaves him to foot the entire bill as she and her bohemian friends escape through the crowd.

INTERMISSION

ACT III

Early one snowy February morning, Mimì seeks out Marcello, who is painting a mural at a tavern near the city gates where Musetta now makes an honest living entertaining the travellers. Mimì tells Marcello she and Rodolfo have separated because of his jealousy. As Marcello tries to comfort her, Rodolfo appears, also seeking Marcello’s advice. Mimì conceals herself and overhears their conversation. Rodolfo tells Marcello he is leaving Mimì because of her flirtations with other men. Marcello is skeptical and forces Rodolfo to admit the truth – Mimì is mortally ill and Rodolfo is consumed by feelings of guilt and remorse, knowing that the harsh conditions of their life together have endangered her health. Mimì’s cough gives her away, and Rodolfo realizes she has overheard everything. Overwhelmed by her plight, Rodolfo promises to stay with Mimì until the spring, but Marcello and Musetta argue viciously and separate.

[The quartet that ends this act is comprised of two couples experiencing very different stages in their relationships, but listen to how Puccini melds the moods of words and music to work perfectly together in a masterful ensemble.]

ACT IV

Rodolfo and Marcello, both now separated from Mimì and Musetta, are working in their garret. Schaunard and Colline arrive with supper, and the four fantasize about attending a fancy ball. Suddenly, Musetta enters with Mimì, now close to death and desperate to be with Rodolfo. Marcello and Musetta leave to summon a doctor and to buy Mimì a muff to warm her hands. Colline also departs to sell his beloved overcoat. Left alone for a few moments, Mimì and Rodolfo remember their happier times together. The others return, but before the doctor can arrive, Mimì dies.

[This last act contains many reiterations of previous themes. For example, the melancholy melody that Mimì sings when she and Rodolfo are finally alone is adapted from Rodolfo’s Act I aria and is repeated in the final moments of the opera, now intensely blazing with emotion as Rodolfo grieves at her bedside.]

Synopsis courtesy of Houston Grand Opera

Giacomo Puccini

Born in Lucca, Italy on December 22, 1858;
died in Brussels, Belgium on November 29, 1924

Born in 1858 into a long line of musicians in the Italian town of Lucca, Giacomo Puccini was trained as an organist.  At the age of 18, after hearing a performance of Aida, Puccini resolved to become an opera composer and eight years later he began his studies at the Milan Conservatory. Puccini was surrounded by compositional geniuses in Milan: one of his instructors was Amilcare Ponchielli (composer of the opera La Gioconda, 1876). He and Ponchielli shared accommodations with Pietro Mascagni (composer of the opera Cavalleria Rusticana, 1890). In 1882 Puccini entered his first opera Le villi (The Witches) into a competition run by the publishing firm of Sonzogno. It didn’t win but it garnered the attention of the publisher Giulio Ricordi, with whom Puccini was to enjoy a lifelong association.

After several moderately successful operas, his first major international success was Manon Lescaut, premiered in 1893 in Turin. One of Puccini’s best known works La Bohème, premiered in 1896 and was not a great success when it was first produced.  It has since become one of the most loved and performed operas in the world. His premiere of Tosca premiered successfully in Rome in 1900 and Madama Butterfly followed in 1904 at La Scala.  

There was a long break before his next premiere, partly due to a tragedy in his domestic life. Puccini had begun living with a married woman, Elvira Gemignani, only able to marry her himself when her first husband died. Their marriage was not an easy one and eventually Elvira accused Puccini of having an affair with a servant girl. The tension in the household became intolerable and the girl committed suicide. A court case determined that she had not had an affair with Puccini and Elvira was jailed for five months. The resulting publicity caused Puccini to withdraw for a while and also separate from his wife. They later reconciled but their marriage was damaged permanently.

In 1910, he composed La Fanciulla del West (The Girl of the Golden West) for the Metropolitan Opera in New York as well as Il Trittico, a trio of one act-act operas which also premiered at the Met, in 1918. He died in 1924 of throat cancer before he could finish the final scene of his last opera Turandot. The opera was eventually completed by Franco Alfano and premiered in 1926 at La Scala.

Puccini wrote almost nothing but operas. A meticulous composer, he worked intensely on his scores, constantly revising his work until he was satisfied. Although his style is firmly rooted in the 19th century Italian tradition, his later works reveal cosmopolitan musical tastes, including the influence of French impressionist composers.

Luigi Illica

Born in Castell'Arquato, Italy on May 9, 1857;
died in Colombarone, Italy on December 16, 1919

Illica was a rebellious youth who did poorly at school and ran away from home for a life at sea. His mother died when he was a child so he left behind only his father who was a staunch republican. In 1879 he arrived in Milan and began a career in journalism. Like his father he was a determined republican himself, socializing and working in literary and political circles. He began writing plays in 1882. His association with Puccini began in 1892 when he helped complete the libretto for Manon Lescaut. Subsequently he worked with Giuseppe Giacosa on Puccini’s next three operas: La Bohème (1896), Tosca (1900) and Madama
Butterfly (1904). Illica would provide a rough text, which would be finessed and rewritten into verse by Giacosa. After Giacosa’s death, Illica continued working on librettos, completing 35 in all, including Giordano’s Andrea Chenier, Mascagni’s Iris, and Catalani’s La Wally. Illica was nearly 60 years old at the outbreak of the World War I, but this didn’t stop him from enlisting, his purpose being to serve at the front. A year later a fall from a horse aggravated his already diminished health. He returned to an area near his hometown and died there in 1919. 


Giuseppe Giacosa

Born in Colleretotto Parella, Italy on October 21, 1847;
died in Colleretotto Parella, Italy on September 1, 1906

Giacosa studied law and joined his father’s law firm after university. He wrote part-time, and only after the success of a one-act comedy did he turn to writing full-time. At the height of his career he was Italy’s best known playwright but he is remembered today as the co-librettist (with Luigi Illica) for three of Puccini’s most popular operas: La Bohème, Tosca, and Madama Butterfly. In all these cases Giacosa was the calming influence in an often turbulent three-way partnership. His gift was taking the storyline and basic dialogue provided by Illica and polishing the text, creating beautiful verses and smoothing out the story.