Proudly
Presents
LA BOHÈME
by Giacomo Puccini
Featuring
Rodolfo, a poet . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . Tenor
Mimì, a seamstress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Soprano
Marcello, a painter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Baritone
Schaunard, a musician . . . . . . . . . . . . . Baritone
Colline, a philosopher . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Bass
Musetta, a singer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Soprano
Benoit, their landlord . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Bass
Alcindoro, a state councilor . . . . . . . . . . . . Bass
Parpignol, a toy vendor . . . . . . . . . . . Tenor
A customs official . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Bass
LA BOHÈME- the synopsis
Puccini had intended
to write an opera
based on Murger’s
novel in 1892-3.
However, this put
him at odds with another popular composer, Ruggero Leoncavallo (of I
PAGLIACCI fame)
who was already
planning his own operatic version. The
novel was already in
public domain, so
Puccini’s publisher
(Ricordi) was unable
to secure exclusive
rights to the work.
Puccini’s version of
LA BOHÈME premiered in Turin at the
Teatro Regio on February 1, 1896 to
mixed reviews. But
its popularity increased across Europe and the United
States, eventually becoming one of the
most performed operas in the repertoire
and the inspiration
for the musical
RENT.
2 Music by Giacomo Puccini
Libretto by Giuseppe Giacosa and Luigi Illica based on Scènes de la vie
de bohème by Henry Murger (published in 1851)
First performed on February 1, 1896 in Turin, Italy at the Teatro Regio
Setting: 1830s, the Latin Quarter in Paris
Act I, a garret in the Latin Quarter of Paris on
Christmas Eve
In their cold garret, Marcello, an artist, and Rodolfo, a poet, burn pages of Rodolfo's latest drama in
order to stay warm. Soon they are joined by Colline, a philosopher, and Schaunard, a musician,
who surprise them with food and fuel for the fire.
Throwing some money on the table earned from
his latest job, Schaunard suggests that they pour
some wine, and then spend Christmas Eve together at the Café Momus. Before they can leave,
their landlord Benoit knocks at the door, calling to
collect their rent. The men invite him in for a drink,
and coax him into talking about women. They act
shocked at the thought of a married man indulging in such shady exploits, and resolve to throw him out without his money.
As they leave for the cafe, Rodolfo stays behind, promising to join them
as soon as he finishes his article. As he writes there is another knock at
the door. It is their neighbor Mimì, whose candle has gone out. He lights
her candle with his, and as she leaves, she collapses in a fit of coughing,
dropping her key on the floor. While the two search for it, the draft
again blows out her candle and this time Rodolfo's candle as well.
Rodolfo finds the key and quietly places it in his pocket. As the two continue to search in the darkness, their hands meet. He tells her of his
dreams (Che gelida manina), and
she tells of her simple life embroidering flowers (Mi chiamano Mimì). Immediately taken with one another,
they go to the café together (O
suave fanciulla).
Act II, a square with the Café Momus
Rodolfo buys Mimì a bonnet on the
way to the café. The streets are filled
with holiday revelers and vendors,
such as the toy seller Parpignol, who
is followed by a crowd of children. As they sit down to dinner with their
friends, Musetta (Marcello's former girlfriend) appears with the wealthy and older Alcindoro,
who is struggling to keep up with her. Although Marcello and Musetta attempt to appear indifferent to one another, it is obvious that
they still care for each other. In order to
gain his attention and hint at her feelings,
Musetta sings a song praising her popularity (Quando me'n vo). Complaining that
her shoe is hurting her, she sends Alcindoro
off to the cobbler. She then is free to join
her old friends, leaving Alcindoro to pay
the bill when he returns.
Act III, a toll-gate on the Orléans road to
Paris
It is February, and Mimì, obviously in poor health, searches for the home of the reunited Musetta and Marcello. Catching Marcello as he leaves a tavern, Mimì tells him of Rodolfo's jealousy,
and that she feels they should part (O buon Marcello,
aiuto!). Rodolfo appears, looking for Marcello, and Mimì
hides. Unaware of her presence, Rodolfo tells Marcello that
he wishes to leave Mimì because of their frequent quarreling.
When Marcello asks for the real reason, he admits that he
fears her health will suffer if she is forced to live any longer in
the poverty they share. Hearing his concern, Mimì approaches as Marcello returns to the tavern to check on Musetta's
laughter. Mimì suggests that she and Rodolfo separate
(Donde lieta uscì) Marcello finds Musetta flirting with a
stranger, and the two couples resolve to separate (Addio dolce svegliare). Marcello and Musetta part in anger, while Rodolfo and Mimì choose to stay together until spring.
Act IV, the garret in the Latin Quarter
Months later, in the garret, Marcello and Rodolfo
commiserate about their loneliness (O Mimì, tu più
non torni). Colline and Schaunard enter, breaking
the mood and offering a small meal. The four men
forget their worries and frolic about the room, staging
a sword fight. However, their laughter is short-lived, as
Musetta arrives with the news that Mimì is dying and
has asked to see Rodolfo. Mimì is brought upstairs
and made comfortable while Marcello and Musetta
leave to sell her earrings for medicine, and Colline
decides to sell his prized overcoat (Vecchia zimarra).
Left alone, Rodolfo and Mimì recall their happiness
together (Sono andati?). Soon the others return, bearing a muff to keep Mimi's hands warm. As
Mimì is overtaken with coughing, it is obvious to everyone but Rodolfo that the help has come
too late. He is the last to realize that Mimì has quietly died; devastated, Rodolfo calls her name.
3 LA BOHÈME
Biography of the Composer
Giacomo Puccini
1858 - 1924
His full name was Giacomo Antonio Domenico Michele Secondo Maria Puccini . . . it was
Italian tradition to include the names of your grandfathers on the birth certificate. Giacomo
came from a long line of organists, composers and choir masters in Lucca, a small town in
nothern Italy. As a boy, Puccini was described as “lazy, slow, and a poor student,” who
enjoyed only bird hunting. His mother, a single parent with seven children, forced him to
study music. To help with family finances, Puccini began working at age 11 as a church
organist, and later earned money by teaching piano and playing piano in Lucca’s taverns.
Puccini saw his first opera at age 18. Too poor for train fare, he walked almost 20 miles to see
Verdi’s AIDA in Pisa, and it changed his life: “ I felt that a musical window had opened for
me.” Puccini now knew he would not become a church musician like his father, but would
turn to opera. He made plans to move to Milan, where the famous opera house, La Scala, was
the new center of Italian opera. It took him four years to save enough money to enroll in
Milan Conservatory.
In Milan, Puccini was poor, but he met the most influential figures in Italian opera. To save
money, he shared an apartment with several friends, and in later years, he would recall
episodes of dodging bill collectors and playing piano in bars for food. Puccini hated his
landlord, who opened the tenants’ mail to collect rent before they could spend it. The
students were not allowed to cook in their rooms, but were too poor to eat out, so while his
friends cooked, Puccini played piano as loudly as possible to cover the kitchen sounds. In LA
BOHÈME, the landlord would become the old buffoon, Benoit, and the young roommates
would cheat him out of his rent. . . something Puccini wanted to do in his youth.
Puccini wrote his first opera, LE VILLI, for an opera competition. The
judges didn’t like it, but Giulio Ricordi, the most important publisher in
Italy, liked it, and saw great promise in Puccini. He paid Puccini a
stipend for several years, and stood by him through several attempts to
write a successful opera. Ricordi believed that Puccini would become
famous. He was right. He made a fortune as the publisher of the world’s
most popular operas: LA BOHÈME, TOSCA, and MADAMA BUTTERFLY.
4 Some of Puccini’s most popular operas were
composed around the turn of the century included LA BOHÈME in 1896, TOSCA in 1900,
and MADAMA BUTTERFLY in 1904, an opera he
based on a David Belasco play he’d seen in
London. This would not be the first time that
Puccini had inspiration from a Belasco play.
Then came a long period when he searched for
new subjects and yearned to write a different
kind of opera. The result was a commission
from America, on an American subject, to be premiered in New York for the
Metropolitan Opera. Puccini was again inspired by a David Belasco play and
subsequently wrote LA FANCIULLA DEL WEST (THE GIRL OF THE GOLDEN WEST), a
tale of gold miners in the California gold rush. FANCIULLA had its premiere in 1910.
He wrote four more operas before beginning TURANDOT in 1920. TURANDOT would
prove to be an extremely difficult project for Puccini. In fact, he never completed the
opera. There were many problems: his librettists were slow, the story line required
major rewriting, Puccini wanted it to be bigger than any of his other works and, worst
of all, his health was failing. Throughout his life Puccini was never without his beloved
cigars, and he was diagnosed with throat cancer in 1923. He had a fatal heart attack
after surgery in Brussels, and died on November 29, 1924. Unlike most composers,
Puccini died a wealthy man, with an estate valued at $24 million in today’s money.
From 1850 to Puccini’s time, the opera business in Italy was like the Broadway musical
scene of today: it was big business. Wealthy investors poured money into star
performers and big productions, looking for the next hit show. In Italy, Giuseppe Verdi
had been the reigning monarch of opera
composers for over fifty years. He had just
come out of a long retirement to compose
OTELLO (1887) and FALSTAFF (1893), but he
was already 80 years old. Italy was looking for
Verdi’s successor, and Ricordi put his money on
Puccini. And by 1900, all the world knew that
Puccini was the heir designate. Puccini wrote
12 operas with three of them, MADAMA
BUTTERFLY, LA BOHÈME, and TOSCA easily
qualifying as world class, all-time hits, that made
the “top ten money makers” list. Add
FANCIULLA, TURANDOT and MANON
LESCAUT, and you have operas with a large
portion of the most beautiful, most frequently sung arias ever written.
5 Puccini was a master of composing beautiful tunes. Many are
used in arias, but most are found woven into the score like
threads in fabric. He uses melodies to describe action,
individual characters, and emotions. Most of Puccini’s
characters have their own themes, called motives, which
portray them through music.
Puccini searched long and hard for good subjects for his
operas. He read scripts and traveled widely to see new plays
and theatrical productions. He had an uncanny sense of
drama and would not settle on one subject until he knew it
would provide powerful, emotional theater. Puccini once
described himself as “more heart than mind,” and wrote once,
“how can one compose what one does not feel?”
With his great melodic gifts, Puccini controlled pacing and mood on stage. He never let
things slow down. His favorite tool was contrast: he could instantly turn a scene from
humorous to tragic, from lyric to dramatic.
Puccini heroines are often tragic figures who are ultimately betrayed by the circumstances
of their lives. Mimì is no exception. Her failing health and poverty are too much to overcome even when her friends come to her aide at the end. Great interpreters of the role of
Mimì include Mirella Freni, Monserrat Caballé and Anna Netrebko. Rodolfo became a signature role for legendary tenors like Enrico Caruso, Luciano Pavarotti and Plácido Domingo.
Enrico Caruso
Tri-Cities set rendering of LA BOHÈME
Act II—the Kentucky Opera will use this
set in 2013
Mirella Freni
6 Author, Author!
Louis-Henri (Henry) Murger
(1822—1861)
Louis-Henri Murger was born on March 27, 1822 in Paris
to a Savoyard immigrant who worked as a tailor and janitor.
Henry had very little formal education and worked menial
jobs and occasionally wrote poetry. He came to the attention of Étienne de Jouy, a well established French dramatist,
who found young Henry a position with Count Tolstoi.
Henry wrote for numerous publications but eventually devoted himself to fiction. Taking examples from his own life
as an impoverished writer living in a Parisian attic, Henry
wrote Scènes de la vie de bohème between 1847-49 with a sequel
(Scènes de la vie de jeunesse) in 1851.
He continued to write but nothing met with the same success as Scènes de la vie de bohème. He was awarded the Légion
d’honneur in 1859 but within two years was completely
broke and in failing health. He died on January 28, 1861 in a
Paris hospital.
Other famous French authors
Victor Hugo was born in Besançon as the son of a Napoleonic general.
After the separation of his parents, he was raised and educated by his
mother. From 1815 to 1818 Hugo attended the Lycée Louis-le Grand in
Paris, reading and writing poetry, including translations of Virgil. In
1819, he and his brothers founded a review, the Conservateur Littéraire.
Inspired by statesman and author François René Chateaubriand, Hugo
published his first collection of poems, Odes et Poesies Diverses. It gained
him a pension from Louis XVIII. Hugo made his debut as a novelist
with Han D’Islande in 1823. Hugo soon married Adèle Foucher, (the
daughter of an officer at the ministry of war), unfortunately, Hugo’s brother went insane on
the wedding day and spent the rest of his life in an institution. For the rest of his life Victor
Hugo felt responsible for his brother’s condition.
Hugo gained fame with his play Hernani in 1830 (which Verdi turned into his opera Ernani) and
with one of his most famous works, Notre-Dame de Paris (also known as The Hunchback of Notre
Dame) which became an instant success. Since its appearance in 1831 the story has became part
of the popular culture. Set in 15th century Paris, the story tells of the gypsy girl Esmeralda and
7 the deformed bell ringer, Quasimodo, who loves her. During the 1830s, Hugo’s creative
activity was extensive and he wrote a large number of plays, probably for several reasons.
First, Hugo was an outspoken activist for political and social change, so plays allowed him to
air his political views. Secondly, he wanted to write parts for a young actress, Juliette Drouet,
who eventually became Hugo’s lover until her death in 1883. The first of these plays was
another verse drama, Le Roi s'amuse (1832, The King's Fool), set in Renaissance France, the play
showed the frivolous love affairs of Francis I while revealing the noble character of his court
jester. This play was at first banned but was later used by Giuseppe Verdi as the libretto of his
opera Rigoletto. Three prose plays followed: Lucrèce Borgia and Marie Tudor in 1833 and Angelo,
tyran de Padoue in 1835. Ruy Blas, a play in verse, appeared in 1838 and was followed by Les
Burgraves in 1843.
In his later life Hugo became involved in politics as a supporter of the republican form
of government. After three unsuccessful attempts, Hugo was elected in 1841 to the Académie
Francaise. This triumph was shadowed by the death of Hugo's daughter Léopoldine in 1843. It
took a decade before Hugo published again. He devoted himself to politics, advocating social
justice. In 1848, with the formation of the Second Republic, Hugo was elected to the
Constitutent Assembly and to the Legislative Assembly. When the coup d'état by Napoleon
III took place in 1851, Hugo fled to Brussels and then to Jersey and Guernsey. This partly voluntary exile lasted 20 years in which time Hugo wrote at Hauteville House some his best
works, including Les Chatiments (1853) and Les Miserables (1862), an epic story about social injustice that remains among Hugo's most popular works. The political upheaval in France and
the proclamation of the Third Republic made Hugo return to France. Napoleon III fell from
power and in 1870 Hugo witnessed the siege of Paris. During the period of the Paris Commune, Hugo lived in Brussels, from where he was expelled for sheltering defeated revolutionaries. After a short time refuge in Luxemburg, Hugo returned to Paris and was elected senator.
Hugo died in Paris on May 22, 1885 and was given a national funeral attended by over two million people. Victor Hugo is buried in the Panthéon.
George Sand (also known as Lucile, Baronne Dudevant) was born on
July 1, 1804 in Paris to a French army officer. She was educated in a Paris convent although much of her childhood was spent in the country.
She met and married Casimir Dudevant but eventually left him. In 1831,
she joined a group of artists in Paris that included Balzac and Liszt. She
also began writing, expressing her concern for human problems with a
very feminist viewpoint. She became a bit of a celebrity not only for her
writing but her many affairs as well including a well publicized relationship with composer Frederic Chopin.
Since it was highly unusual to publish books written by women during this time, Sand collaborated with Jules Sandeau on her first book. Her early novels were idealistic and romantic.
These works included Indiana (1832), Valentine (1832) and Lelia (1833). Eventually her topics
included more humanistic and socialist ideals like those in Consuelo (1842). After the French
Revolution of 1848, Sand left the city to take up residence in her country house. Again, her
topic changed to reflect her environment, that of the country and peasants. Her final books
8 included Le Marquis de Villemer (1861) and her autobiography Histoire de ma vie (The Story of
My Life) (1854-55). She died at her country house in Nohant on June 8, 1876.
Gustave Flaubert was born in Rouen in 1821 to Achille-Cleophas Flaubert, a surgeon and Anne-Justine-Caroline, the daughter of a doctor. From
the start, Gustave was uncomfortable with his middle- class up bringing
and tended to rebel against it. This led to his being expelled from school
so he had to finish his education privately. In 1844, he had a “nervous attack”, which may have been epileptic in nature, but it changed his life. He
failed out of law school and decided to devote the rest of his life to literature. His father bought him a house at Croisset (in between Paris and Rouen). In 1846, he met fellow writer Louise Collet who became his mistress.
After the death of his father and sister, he moved back into the family
country home to stay with his mother.
From 1849 to 1851, he traveled extensively to Africa, Syria , Turkey, Greece and Italy. Upon
his return, Flaubert began work on his most famous novel, Madame Bovary (1856). The novel
was condemned as it took a realistic look at adultery. Flaubert was prosecuted but not convicted or fined (this type of condemnation/prosecution of authors was not unusual during
this time period in France – Baudelaire was also a victim for his poetic collection The Flowers
of Evil. He was fined.) During the 1860s, Flaubert was a success both with the public and
the court of Napoleon III. His friends included authors Emile Zola, and George Sand. Much
of his fortune was used to help his niece’s bankrupt family. By the time of his death, Flaubert
was virtually broke. He died in Croisset of a cerebral hemorrhage on May 8, 1880.
Charles Pierre Baudelaire was born on April 9, 1821 in Paris. His
father died when he was six. Although his mother eventually remarried, Baudelaire did not like his new stepfather. He was educated
at the College Louis-le-Grand and decided to pursue a literary career.
His parents tried to distract him by sending him on a sea voyage to
India. Baudelaire left the ship and returned to Paris. To support
himself, Baudelaire began his writing career as a critic. His first publications were two books on art criticism, Les salons (1845-1846). In
these books, Baudelaire discussed the paintings of contemporary
French artists, Daumier, Manet and Delacroix. He also translated
many of the works of Edgar Allen Poe into French (1848 – 1857).
Baudelaire’s most famous work, Les fleurs du mal (The Flowers of Evil) (1857) was also the
most scandalous. The French government accused Baudelaire of “offending public morals”,
fined him and also took out six poems from future editions. Baudelaire moved to Belgium for
two years (1864 – 1866) but returned to Paris. He died on August 31, 1867.
9 Jules Verne was born on February 8, 1828 in Nantes, France to Pierre,
a lawyer and Sophie. The oldest of 5 children, Jules attended College
Saint-Stanislas, the Petit Seminaire and eventually the Lycee Royal de
Nantes. In 1847, Jules moves to Paris to study law and writes a play
(Alexandre VI). His uncle introduces him to the literary salons of Paris
where he meets Alexandre Dumas pere and fils (father and son). Inspired, Jules writes more plays and short stories with some success. In
1852, he became the secretary of Theatre lyrique.
In 1856, he met Honorine de Viane, whom he married the following
year. At the same time, Jules was a stockbroker in Paris, although not
particularly successful. Along with composer Hignard, Jules traveled to
Scotland, Norway and Denmark. His only child, Michel, was born in 1861. Finally, in 1863,
he published Five Weeks in a Balloon which was an immediate success. But it was the publication of Journey to the Center of the Earth which finally allowed Jules to quit his stockbroker job.
Jules, along with his brother Paul, journeyed to Liverpool and then to United States in 1867.
For the next several years, Jules wrote Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea (1869), Around the
World in Eighty Days (1872), and created stage adaptations of his earlier works with Adolphe
d’Ennery.
Jules’ son, Michel, caused problems by marrying an actress, in spite of his father’s objections.
He later kidnapped a young girl, Jeanne, with whom he had two children, ultimately divorcing his wife and marrying Jeanne. Jules continued to travel the world and receive accolades
for his work even receiving an audience with the Pope (Leo XIII). In 1886, his mentally ill
nephew asked Jules for money and when Jules refused, the nephew shot him making him
lame for the rest of his life. In 1905, after suffering from diabetes, Jules Verne died on
March 24th and was buried in Amiens.
Famous French artists of the mid 19th century
During the 1850s, French artists began a movement toward Realism that
would eventually lead into the Impressionist period. The two artists
listed below were some of the most influential French artists of the
time.
Ferdinand-Victor-Eugene Delacroix was born on April 26, 1798, in
Charenton-St-Maurice, France. He studied with Pierre-Narcisse Guerin
in 1815 and by 1822, Delacroix submitted one of his pictures, Dante and
Virgil in Hell, to the Paris Salon exhibition (the Salon was an annual public display of art that was sponsored by the Royal Academy). His next
Self-Portrait of
Delacroix
submission to a salon was his Massacre at Chios in 1824. The French government bought the painting. In 1825, Delacroix went to England to
tour museums and attend theater performances.
10 Delacroix found inspiration in many areas including some historical themes that he used for
several of his next works including The Battle of Nancy and The Battle of Poitiers. A Lord Byron
poem inspired his 1827 Death of Saranapalus, and he created illustrations for a French edition of
Goethe’s Faust. Perhaps his most famous painting, Liberty Guiding the People, was inspired by
the 1830 French revolution. In 1833, he began painting murals, first for the Palais Bourbon
and eventually for the Louvre and the Museum of History at Versailles. Eugene Delacroix
died on August 13, 1863 in Paris.
Gustave Courbet was born on June 10, 1819 to a wealthy farming
family in Ornans, France. Although he eventually went to Paris to
study law, he ended up studying painting and in 1844, his self-portrait
was accepted by the all important Salon. During a visit to his family,
Courbet painted The Stone-Breakers (1849) and Burial at Ornans (1850).
Not all of his paintings were accepted for exhibition. In fact, he had
to exhibit his own canvas entitled The Artist’s Studio.
By the late 1850s, Courbet was the leader of the art movement known Bonjour Monsieur Courbet
as the French realist movement. Courbet had a wide variety of topics
he used for his paintings including portraits, female nudes and nature.
His paintings of the sea influenced the next generation of French impressionists. After being
briefly imprisoned for his political beliefs in 1871, Courbet fled to Switzerland to avoid a fine
he could not pay. He died on December 31, 1877.
Where in the World?
Humans have inhabited France for about 90,000 years. The
Greeks first tried to settle in Celtic Gaul and managed to establish a small colony in Marseille in 600 BC. Then it was the
turn of the Romans, led by Julius Caesar, who entirely invaded Gaul during the Gallic Wars (58-51 BC). The Romans
brought unity and peace for two centuries during which agriculture, cattle-breeding and urban development were greatly
improved.
During the 2nd century AC, Romans brought Christianity into
Gaul and by the third century, the power of the Roman Empire had begun its decline. The 4th century started with Barbarian invaders from the East such as the Franks, the Vandals and the Visigoths. Clovis, King of the Franks, converted to Christianity and his power
brought unity to Gaul, starting the Merovingian dynasty.
Charles Martel, the first leader of the Carolingian dynasty, initiated the expansion of the
11 Franks' kingdom and stopped the Muslim advance from Spain in 732. Charlemagne (742814) continued this expansion and conquered most of Germany and Italy to reunite most of
the former Roman Empire. Shortly after his death, however, his kingdom was divided under
the pressure of invaders such as the Normans (Vikings) and the Magyars (Hungarians). Towards the end of the first millennium, France consisted of numerous feudal
Lordships. The Carolingian dynasty died out in 987 when Hugues Capet was
elected to the throne of France by the Lords, starting the Capetian Dynasty. The
early Capetian kings had very limited power over the independent Lords. In
1066, William, Duke of Normandy invaded England while the first Crusades
started in 1095.
Hugues Capet
Despite the marriage of Eleanor of Aquitaine to Henry II of England which yielded most of the
western part of France to the British Crown, the Capetians
continued to centralize the Lordships under their control.
Philippe IV even pressured successors of Pope Boniface
VIII to move the papal court to Avignon in 1309. After
the death of the last Capetian king, Charles IV, Edward III
of England claimed the French Throne and started the
Hundred Years War in 1337. Thanks to the courage of a
French peasant girl, Joan of Arc, Charles VIII emerged
victorious in the war and drove the English back to Calais.
Eleanor of Aquitaine tomb
In the early 16th century, after a series of Italian wars, Francois I strengthened the French
Crown and welcomed to France many Italian artists and designers such as Leonardo da Vinci.
Their influence assured the success of the Renaissance style characterized by enlarged doors
and windows, the great sophistications of the interiors.
Between 1562 and 1598, the increase in the number of the Huguenots (Protestants) led to the Wars of Religion. Catherine de Medici ordered the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre of hundreds of
Protestants. In 1589, Henri IV, a target of the massacre, became the
first Bourbon king of France and to wisely convert to Catholicism.
He ended the Wars of Religion by enacting the Edict of Nantes,
which guaranteed religious and political rights to the Huguenots.
Catherine de Medici c. 1555
attributed to François Clouet
The 17th century was marked by a period of exceptional power
and glamour for the French Monarchy. King Louis XIII and the
Cardinal Richelieu transformed the Monarchy by controlling the
opposition of the Lords and the growing power of the Protestant
movement.
Louis XIV managed to keep all the Princes and Lords at his court
in Versailles, to better control and display his glorious power. Louis XIV, also known as the
12 Armand Jean du Plessis,
Cardinal de Richelieu
Sun King, was the most powerful and glamorous monarch in Europe
since the Roman Empire. Unfortunately all of this, including Louis's
endless wars, had a cost that was to be paid by the entire nation,
which by then had become poor due to the excessive spending. But
as the 18th century progressed, the ancient régime (old order) became dangerously out of sync with the rest of the
country, and was further weakened by
the Enlightenment's anti-Establishment
and anticlerical ideas. France's involvement in the Seven Years' War (1756-63)
and the American War of Independence
(1776-83) was financially ruinous for the
monarchy, and the latter provided ammunition for opponents of French ab-
solutism.
The growing resentment of the middle class, who demanded political rights more in keeping with their expanding power and
wealth, would prove to be a political challenge to the king's successors.
Louis XIV—the Sun King
The 18th century's Enlightenment brought thinkers such as Voltaire and Rousseau to the
struggle against the principles of the old regime and absolutism. By the late 1780s, most
French citizens had strong reasons for being fed up with Louis XVI and his queen, Marie Antoinette. In 1789, the state's financial crisis brought social turmoil, triggering the Revolution.
On July 14th, a Parisian mob revolted and stormed the Bastille prison, symbol of the old regime. A few weeks later, the revolutionaries enacted the Declaration of the Rights of Man
which embodied the principles of Liberté, Egalité, and Fraternité
(Freedom, Equality, Fraternity) and had far reaching consequences for
all the other European monarchies. During the following decade
France saw a succession of rivaling regimes that guillotined radicals at
the Place de la Revolution. The Terror regime of Robespierre and
his Committee of Public Safety brought turmoil, confusion and anarchy in France. Ultimately the Revolution turned on its own, and many
of its leaders, including Robespierre, were pruned by Madame la
Guillotine.
Napoleon Bonaparte
The Revolution ended in 1799 when Napoleon Bonaparte entered
Paris and was crowned First Consul at the age of thirty. A brilliant
politician and a military genius, he took the title of emperor Napoleon I in 1804. After establishing a powerful central administration and
a strong code of law, he started numerous military campaigns which
almost gave him the control of the entire European continent. First
defeated in Russia in 1812 and then in
13 Waterloo in 1815, he was replaced by Louis XVIII. The English exiled him to the remote
South Atlantic island of Saint Helena, where he died in 1821. Napoleon is remembered as a
great hero not so much for his military gusto but because he preserved the bulk of changes
wrought by the Revolution and promulgated the Napoleonic Code, which remains the basis of the French legal system.
In 1848, Louis Napoleon, nephew of Napoleon I, was elected the
first president of the Second Republic. In 1852, he was proclaimed
Emperor Napoleon III. It was he who commissioned Baron Haussman to redesign Paris and started the French industrial revolution. In
1870, the Franco-Prussian war erupted, Paris fell to the Germans and
France lost the Alsace and Lorraine regions. Following the defeat, Napoleon III was exiled and France's Third Republic marked the definite
end of centuries of monarchy.
The industrial expansion was not slowed by the war and continued at a
fast pace. To commemorate the centenniLouis Napoleon
al of the French Revolution, the Eiffel
Tower was constructed during the Universal Exhibition of
1889. Simultaneously, the cultural and artistic scene thrived
and evolved with the Impressionists, the Art Nouveau style,
the novelist Gustave Flaubert and the satirist Emile Zola.
The First World War erupted in 1914 in northeast France
and after two years of German victories, fell into the horrors
of trench warfare. The United States entered the war in 1917 and helped France to victory.
The Allies demanded generous restitutions and payments from the Germans, who resented
the humiliation for years, and was one of the many factors that sparked World War II.
Despite the devastation of the war, period between wars allowed France to hold a leading
role in the avant garde movement. From Paris to the Riviera, France attracted experimental
artists, musicians, filmmakers and musicians from all over the world.
In 1940, the Germans invaded Paris and occupied the north and west parts of France until
1944. The rest of the country was under the authority of the puppet Government of Vichy
led by Marshal Petain. Simultaneously, General Charles de Gaulle was organizing the Resistance movement of the Free France from London. Soon after the American, British and
Canadian military invasion on the Normandy Beaches on June 6, 1944, de Gaulle entered
Paris to head the new government of the Fourth Republic.
The postwar years deeply changed French society: consumerism was born, the service sector rapidly expanded, and high-tech national projects were successfully launched
(Concorde, TGV). Meanwhile, in the 50's and 60's, France had difficulty in coping with the
claim to independence of its African and Asian colonies and with the liberalization of its
14 society, leading to wars in Algeria, Indochina (Vietnam) and the violent student revolts of
1968. In May 1968, student protesters and striking workers surprised themselves and the
world at large by bringing the country to a standstill. Just as anarchy was poised to engulf
France, De Gaulle went on national television and told everybody to calm down, go home
and leave the running of the country to him. And they did. The government then reformed the higher education system, and De Gaulle resigned as president the following
year.
Resilient socialist François Mitterand was France's president from 1981 to 1995. In May
1995 he was succeeded by Jacques Chirac, who headed off the demoralized socialists and
Jean-Marie Le Pen's anti-immigrant Front National (FN). A series of bombings in Paris
and Lyon from July 1995 by terrorists protesting French support
of the Algerian government contributed to anti-foreigner sentiment and lent a false legitimacy to the FN's racist stance.
France has a bicameral legislation made up of two houses; the National Assembly and the Senate. France has the fifth largest economy in the world that includes agriculture and tourism among
other sources of income. The current President is François
Hollande who replaced Nicolas Sarkozy.
What to listen for in La Bohème—Act I
The opening rhythm of the 16th note followed by two eighths to a dotted quarter is one
that is heard throughout the opera.
15 Che gelida manina (“Your tiny hand is frozen”) is one of the great tenor arias in the
repertory.
Mimì responds with the equally famous soprano aria Mi chiamano Mimì (“They call
me Mimi”).
Act I ends with Mimì and Rodolfo’s duet O Soave Fanciulla as they head off to join
the friends at Café Momus.
What to listen for in La Bohème—Act II
Act II opens at Café Momus and we are introduced to Musetta, a former girlfriend
of Marcello who still tries to catch his eye with her aria Quando me’n vo.
16 Act II further cements the relationship of Rodolfo and Mimì as well as the rekindling romance between Musetta and Marcello. The act ends with the entire group
celebrating the artistic life.
What to listen for in La Bohème—Act III
Act III opens two months later (February) on the road to Orleans. There is a toll
gate and a tavern. Puccini captures the falling snow as well as the sense that life is
not a jolly for the friends as it was in December.
17 What to listen for in La Bohème—Act IV
The final act opens with the same theme as the opening of the opera with the
friends back in the garret apartment. Rodolfo and Marcello bemoan the loss of their
relationships. The music reflects they are back where they started.
In Mimì’s final moments, Puccini composed a feeling of breathlessness with the use
of the eighth note rests in between each thought. And underscoring is a slower, quieter orchestra—a pause before the end.
18 LA BOHÈME Activities and Production
Elements of LA BOHÈME include settings in Paris, France (the Latin Quarter) and the composer comes from Lucca, Italy. See if you can locate France and Italy on a map. Where is the Latin Quarter section of Paris?
Here are some words to listen for:
Amore (ah-MOH-ray)
Andiamo (ahn-dee-AH-moh)
Aprite (ah-PREE-tay)
Chiave (kee-AH-vay)
Come (KOH-may)
Dove (DOH-vay)
Farfallone (fahr-fahl-LOH-nay)
Giardino (geeahr-DEE-noh)
Giorno (GEEORH-noh)
Madre (MAH-dray)
Padre (PAH-dray)
Per carita (PEHR kah-ree-TAH)
Love
Let’s go
Open up
Key
How
Then, so
Butterfly
Garden
Day
Mother
Father
Please,
have pity!
Perche (pehr-KAY)
Why? or Because
Perdono (pehr-DOH-noh)
Pardon
Spilla (SPEEL-lah)
Pin
Venite (vay-NEE-tay)
Come
Where did they come from?
Opera singers come from all over the world. See if
you can figure out which singer comes from which
country (answers at the bottom)
Singers
a)Placido Domingo
b)Luciano Pavarotti
c)Jose Carreras
d)Leontyne Price
e)Jussi Bjorling
f)Jon Vickers
g)Samuel Ramey
h)Kiri te Kanawa
i)Kirsten Flagstad
j)Joan Sutherland
k)Bryn Terfel
Countries
1)United States
2)Spain
3)Italy
4)Australia
5)Sweden
6)Canada
7)Norway
8)Wales
9) New Zealand
a)2; b)3; c)2; d)1; e)5; f)6; g)1; h)9; i)7; j)4; k)8
Learn some Italian
Create your own instruments
Things you will need: empty containers (oatmeal containers, Pringles cans, milk jugs, 2-liter pop bottles), toilet
paper or paper towel cores, wax paper, rubber bands, empty Kleenex boxes, paint, rubberbands, glitter, dried
beans/peas/macaroni/rice, empty glass bottles and water.
DRUMS AND SHAKERS: Clean out emptied containers. Make sure each container has a lid of some kind.
Add dried beans, peas, macaroni, rice and shake. Decorate outside of container with paint or glitter.
KAZOOS: Toilet paper/paper towel cores: cover each end of the core with the wax paper and rubber bands.
Cut a slit in the wax paper at both ends of the core. Decorate core with paint. Blow/hum into one end like a
kazoo.
GUITARS: Empty Kleenex boxes (best types are the ones that dispense from the top only): decorate box as
desired. Stretch large rubber bands over the opening and use different levels of thickness and strum away.
WATER XYLOPHONE: You can make this with some empty glass bottles and water. Fill each bottle with
different amounts of water. You can either blow over the top to get a different sound or you can make small
mallets using dowel rods and wooden beads. Line up your bottles according to their pitches and then have fun
playing Mary Had a Little Lamb or Twinkle Twinkle. The more bottles, the more pitches with which you’ll have
to experiment.
19