FIVE REASONS TO MAKE LA BOHÈME YOUR FIRST OPERA
Keen to give opera a go but not sure where to start? Opera North’s critically-acclaimed production of Puccini’s La bohème returns to Lowry this week! Here are our top five reasons why we think it is the perfect opera for first-timers.
A story for today
The plot of La bohème is one everybody can relate to, as it’s all about being young and having fun with friends – until real life intervenes. In Puccini’s classic, the main characters are all penniless bohemians with the action taking place in Paris, the city of romance. It is here that love blossoms between the poet Rodolfo and Mimì, a seamstress who lives in the same building and comes looking for a light for her candle as evening falls.
Since its premiere in 1895, La bohème has consistently stayed in the Top 10 most performed operas worldwide, testament to its enduring appeal.
Lights, Camera, Action
La bohème inspired the 1996 move Rent and Baz Luhrmann’s Moulin Rouge. This production was originally developed by Phyllida Lloyd who also directed the blockbuster Mamma Mia! Film is referenced in the set design, too. The action takes place in the late 1950s with each scene framed exactly like a Polaroid picture.
As Phyllida Lloyd explains: “We conceived the opera as a series of four photographs that, one day in your adulthood, drop out of an old book. We thought of those photographs as being like Polaroids. It’s very much about memory; these moments in one’s youth when something enormous happened.”
A favourite with the players
Claire Osborne is a violinist in the Orchestra of Opera North and will be playing Puccini’s incredible score at every performance in Salford. For her, this opera is particularly special as it is the first one she performed after joining the orchestra several years ago: “I was overwhelmed by it from the first second to the last. It’s a gem of an opera: short and sweet and full of emotions that just bowl you over.”
Harpist Céline Saout agrees: “If you haven’t been to an opera before, La bohème is the best one to start with. The story is incredible and to me, more importantly it speaks directly to the heart.”
A classic composer
La bohème was written by Giacomo Puccini, possibly the most famous opera composer of all time. He is the man behind a string of perennially popular operas, including Tosca and Madama Butterfly, which have become known the world over for their gripping plots and memorable tunes.
It is a great place to start a foray into opera because it contains some of the art-form’s best-loved music. Act I features a trio of showstoppers back-to-back: Rodolfo’s famous aria ‘Che gelida manina’ (Your tiny hand is frozen) followed by Mimì’s ‘Mi chiamano Mimì’ (They call me Mimì), and then their soaring love duet ‘O soace fanciulla’ (O lovely girl in the moonlight). It all adds up to the most incredible ‘three-in-a-row’ in opera.
Breaking down barriers
There’s a perception that an evening at the opera will cost an arm and a leg - and that it will be impossible to understand, if it is sung in a foreign language. Neither is true as, thanks to the ticket schemes run by Lowry, discounted tickets are available for Under 30s, students and anyone who is new to opera, with other options starting at very affordable prices.
Added to which, while Opera North’s production of La bohème is sung in the original Italian, English subtitles are displayed on either side of the stage making it very easy to keep up with the story.
Opera North performs La bohème at Lowry at 7pm on Wednesday 12 November and Saturday 15 November with a matinee performance at 2pm on Thursday 13 November which will be both audio-described and British Sign Language interpreted. Get your tickets now from thelowry.com