Classically Abby - January 02, 2020


THE OPERATIC VERSION OF RENT？？ ｜｜ Opera Spotlight： La bohème

Hosted by
Abby Shapiro
Mentioned
Mimi Rodolfo Puccini La Boheme Musetta Ruggero Leoncavalo Marcello Chonard Mirella Freni Luciano Pavarotti Elizabeth Harwood Giuseppe Giacosa Henri Merger Luigi Illica Aspetti Shonard Benoit
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Episode Stats


Length

14 minutes

Words per minute

130.49

Word count

1,904

Sentence count

111

Harmful content

Misogyny

1

sentences flagged


Summary

Summaries generated with gmurro/bart-large-finetuned-filtered-spotify-podcast-summ .

In this episode of Classical Abroad, we will be doing an opera spotlight on Puccini's La Boheme, or The Bohemians. This is one of the most famous operas of all time, written in 1896 by an Italian composer, Gioacchino "Ruggero" Leoncavalo, and performed in the early 20th century by Giuseppe Giacosa.

Transcript

Transcript generated with Whisper (turbo).
Misogyny classifications generated with MilaNLProc/bert-base-uncased-ear-misogyny .
Hosts, guests, and mentioned names generated with spaCy (en_core_web_sm), reconciled against Wikidata.
00:00:00.320 Hello beautiful ladies and gents, and welcome to Classically Abbey. 0.98
00:00:04.400 Today we will be doing an opera spotlight on Puccini's La Boheme, or The Bohemians.
00:00:09.680 Now the first thing I'd like to clear up right off the bat is that La Boheme is in Italian,
00:00:13.760 not French. The original novel and play were written in French by the author Henri Merger,
00:00:20.240 however the libretto for Puccini's opera was written in Italian by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe
00:00:25.440 Giacosa. Together they used his stories as a basis for the opera, although much of acts two and three
00:00:31.440 are of the librettist's own invention. I chose La Boheme because the characters are so incredibly
00:00:36.560 well drawn through both the libretto and the musical writing. You can't help but fall in love with the
00:00:41.760 motley crew, despite the fact that they are somewhat morally questionable, and Puccini lovingly sets every
00:00:47.600 word, allowing the audience to see into the hearts of each and every person on stage. La Boheme was
00:00:54.080 written in 1896. It was the subject of tension, as another composer, Ruggero Leoncavalo, composer of
00:01:01.280 Pagliacci, had also begun work on a work of the same name. When Leoncavalo found out that Puccini
00:01:07.520 was writing his own version, he asked him to cease and desist, claiming he had rights to the story,
00:01:12.400 despite the fact that La Boheme was in the public domain. Puccini refused, having had no knowledge that
00:01:18.480 Leoncavalo had begun composing around the same time, and is quoted as saying,
00:01:22.960 Let him compose. I will compose. The audience will decide. It seems audiences did decide,
00:01:30.000 as Leoncavalo's remains mostly forgotten, and Puccini's version is one of the most frequently
00:01:34.800 performed operas in the world. We'll be listening to the 1973 recording of La Boheme featuring Mirella
00:01:41.120 Freni, Luciano Pavarotti, and Elizabeth Harwood, and conducted by Herbert von Karajan. As well,
00:01:48.160 I'll be including my rendition of See, Mi Chiamano Mimi that I recorded for my YouTube channel.
00:01:53.440 Feel free to head over and watch it. I chose the 1973 recording for a few reasons. This is truly the
00:01:59.920 master recording of this incredible opera. Mirella Freni is a wonderful Mimi, and she sings her with
00:02:05.600 such tenderness. And Pavarotti sings with so much joy, just as Rodolfo should. As well, Herbert von Karajan is
00:02:13.520 one of the best conductors of the 20th century, and he guides the orchestra with masterful precision.
00:02:20.000 Now let's talk about the plot and hear some music. To follow along and hear the full recording,
00:02:24.800 head over to my Spotify and follow the Opera Spotlight La Boheme playlist.
00:02:29.920 You'll notice that the opera begins without an overture, only about 20 seconds of scene-setting
00:02:34.480 music, comically loud. The curtain rises on the scene, and we immediately know where we are.
00:02:39.520 It's a dilapidated room on Christmas Eve, the top floor of an old building. In it, we see a young
00:02:46.320 man painting, Marcello, and another gazing out the window. They complain about the cold. They are poor
00:02:52.800 artists and unable to afford anything to heat themselves with. The man looking out the window,
00:02:58.000 Rodolfo, writes plays, but decides to burn his manuscript for warmth. What should be a sad and
00:03:03.680 depressing moment? Is played for laughs.
00:03:16.960 In come the other two artistic friends, Colline the philosopher and Chonard the musician. They carry
00:03:41.520 food and wine, and Chonard explains his good fortune. He was hired by an old man to play his
00:03:46.720 violin to the man's pet parrot until it died. As the men set the table, excited to fill their bellies,
00:03:52.640 Chonard stops them and tells them to save the food. They are going to celebrate by going out to eat at
00:03:57.840 Café Momousse. All of a sudden, a knock rings out on their door. Benoit, their landlord, is here to
00:04:04.480 collect their rent. They ply him with wine, ask him of his amorous adventures, and wait for him to reveal
00:04:11.040 that he's married. Feigning moral indignation, they shoo him out of their apartment and keep the rent
00:04:16.480 money for themselves, planning to spend it out on the town that night. As all the friends leave,
00:04:22.400 Rodolfo stays behind to finish something he's writing before he plans to join them.
00:04:27.120 Another, softer knock is heard on the door, and when Rodolfo opens it, a young, pretty woman is
00:04:32.080 standing there. Her candle has gone out, and she doesn't have another match to light it with.
00:04:37.040 Rodolfo is immediately taken with her and helps light her candle, but she feels faint. After
00:04:42.560 Rodolfo offers her some wine, she feels better, but she realizes she has lost her key. Depending on
00:04:48.240 the production, it is unclear whether Mimi has lost her key on purpose to spend more time with this
00:04:52.560 fetching young man, or whether it was actually an accident. But what isn't an accident is Rodolfo
00:04:58.400 finding the key and putting it in his pocket so she has to spend a bit more time with him.
00:05:03.200 It's an adorably sweet moment. When they are chatting, Puccini has the orchestra seem like
00:05:07.840 it's On Tentrahooks, the beginning of Young Love.
00:05:13.520 Si sente melio si. Ui c'è tanto freddo. Sedda vicino al fuoco. Aspetti un po' di vino.
00:05:28.640 As they are looking for the key, Rodolfo touches Mimi's hand and feels how cold it is.
00:05:47.200 Thus begins one of the most famous arias in the repertoire, and it is so absolutely sweet and
00:05:51.600 indicative of Young Love that I had to share it with you all. He tells of himself and tries to
00:05:56.400 brag about what he does to impress her.
00:06:26.400 Mimi follows up with her own introduction, and the fact that Puccini wrote two of the most famous
00:06:38.560 arias back-to-back is absolutely mind-blowing. This is an excerpt of my rendition.
00:06:43.360 Mi piaccion quelle cose che han si dulce ma leo che ballano d'ahor de bravo bene.
00:07:07.360 The two young people realize they have fallen in love, and sing together in a duet as they leave
00:07:13.920 the apartment, ending the act. Act II begins in the Latin Quarter that same evening. A crowd is out,
00:07:20.960 and Rodolfo and Mimi appear, and he buys her a little pink bonnet from a street vendor.
00:07:25.360 As they sit down with their friends at Café Momousse, Musetta, Marcello's old flame, appears with her admirer,
00:07:31.920 a rich man named Alcindoro. She misses Marcello and sings a seductive song to everyone in the square,
00:07:37.680 but directed specifically at her ex-boyfriend. It's hilarious, one of my personal favorite arias to
00:07:43.360 sing, and a scene-stealer.
00:08:13.360 Despite the fact that she's being so forward, Mimi notices that Musetta actually does love Marcello,
00:08:25.600 and it isn't just some ploy. To rid herself of Alcindoro, Musetta pretends that her foot
00:08:30.640 is in horrible pain, and she needs Alcindoro to go to a shoemaker. He leaves, and she falls into
00:08:35.760 Marcello's arms. The bill for the table arrives, and Shonard's purse seems to have been stolen.
00:08:41.040 Musetta's brilliant solution? To put the whole tab on Alcindoro's bill.
00:08:47.040 In Act 3, a few months have passed. It's February, and Mimi has a terrible cough.
00:08:52.400 She has been looking for Marcello, for he has moved to a tavern for which he paints signs.
00:08:56.880 After finding him, she confesses that her life with Rodolfo has been difficult because of his jealousy,
00:09:01.680 and that he left her last night. Marcello shares that Rodolfo is asleep inside,
00:09:06.320 but Rodolfo appears and speaks with Marcello while Mimi hides.
00:09:10.560 After trying to convince Marcello that he has left Mimi because of her flirtatiousness,
00:09:14.880 he actually reveals that he knows Mimi is sick with consumption, dying, and that he wants her to
00:09:19.600 find a better, richer man to take care of her. When Marcello tries to stop Rodolfo so that he
00:09:24.640 doesn't hurt Mimi's feelings, Mimi comes out from her hiding place, crying. Marcello leaves the two
00:09:30.240 alone as he has heard Musetta's giggles from inside the tavern and wants to confront her.
00:09:34.240 In this moment, Mimi tells Rodolfo that she will break up with him, sharing her love for him in
00:09:39.920 this next aria. She speaks nostalgically, remembering the better times and telling him
00:09:44.880 to keep the pink bonnet that he bought for her on Christmas Eve. Puccini beautifully weaves the
00:09:49.520 original tune of her first aria through the beginning of this moment, nostalgically having
00:09:53.680 her as well as the audience remember her first encounter with Rodolfo.
00:10:10.640 They realize that they love each other too much to break up before spring, when the world is
00:10:37.920 beautiful and reborn. They agree to stay together for a bit longer, just as Marcello and Musetta are
00:10:43.440 yelling at each other over her flirtatious nature, a dichotomy if ever there was one. This musical
00:10:49.120 excerpt is a quartet that begins with a duet for Rodolfo and Mimi as they decide to stay together for
00:10:53.600 just a few more months.
00:11:05.920 In the last act, the last act raises on the same set as the first act,
00:11:21.440 but the last act raises on the same set as the first act.
00:11:34.800 same set as the first act, though this time it's spring in the little apartment.
00:11:38.800 Rodolfo and Marcello are working, quote-unquote, however they are both really daydreaming about
00:11:43.160 the women who have now gone. They both have seen Mimi and Musetta dress like queens about town,
00:11:48.120 and they miss them terribly. After a rather comical scene with all four men as they set
00:11:52.920 up their meager food as if it were a banquet, Musetta appears at the door. Mimi has left her
00:11:58.440 rich patron and was wandering the street, looking haggard. She asked Musetta to bring her to Rodolfo.
00:12:03.740 They help her onto the bed. Musetta goes with Marcello to sell her earrings for medicine to
00:12:08.780 help Mimi. Mimi mentions that her hands are cold, and in this next excerpt, Coline sings to his old
00:12:14.380 coat that he is going to sell so he can buy her a muff to keep her hands warm. The coat represents
00:12:20.020 an old friend to him, and the beginning sounds like a funeral march if you listen carefully.
00:12:33.740 Shonard leaves too to give the young couple some time together. Mimi tells Rodolfo that her love for him
00:13:01.660 is everything, and he shows that he kept the pink bonnet. She is delighted, and they relive their
00:13:06.860 first meeting together. It is so incredibly sad and nostalgic as they relive their first moments
00:13:11.960 together musically, her trying to feel better as she lays dying. Listen to this short excerpt,
00:13:18.240 where Puccini has her repeat her line from her first aria, then again softer and in a lower key,
00:13:23.080 as if her voice isn't strong enough to repeat it.
00:13:25.680 では her question.
00:13:26.740 Min Staid tribunalはいよくそこだった子が痛いやすいです。
00:13:30.680 estateをもっと揚げるのが全力。
00:13:32.680 Min里の名前はラファ primaryの赤並とブリックスで撫露瓦の produkに
00:13:36.760 年かまないこと。
00:13:41.800 そこから障害 fractionsがあると言うかもその Time ahead.
00:13:48.060 私は esaつで剰れた子が見去も、最も大切がIPM study pasandoくさい。
00:13:52.640 The others return and present her with the medicine and the muff,
00:14:01.720 and Mimi tells Rodolfo she's just going to nap for a moment.
00:14:04.860 But as they turn away, Musetta praying,
00:14:07.420 Schaunard realizes that Mimi has already died.
00:14:10.620 Rodolfo rushes to her bedside, crying her name as the curtain falls.
00:14:14.880 And that's the entirety of this incredibly moving, beautiful opera.
00:14:18.580 Now you have some context before going to a production of La Boheme.
00:14:24.080 Have you heard La Boheme before?
00:14:26.040 What's your favorite Puccini opera?
00:14:28.040 Let me know in the comments.
00:14:29.860 You can always follow me on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube at Classically Abbey.
00:14:34.620 And thanks for listening!