![]() ![]() ![]() We hinted at the verismo period (Italian for “realism”, from vero, meaning "true") when we covered La Rondine, another Puccini opera. He wrote 16 operas, most still performed today, including Tosca, La Bohème, Madama Butterfly, and Turandot. Giacomo Puccini (1858 - 1924) was one of the most famous Italian opera composers (after Verdi, of course!). □ Listen here: “Che gelida manina” (4 minute listen) It felt appropriate to come back to the music that started it all on July 22nd when I wrote to a list of precisely zero subscribers! To think we are a group of over 5,000 today blows my mind, but more importantly, I am grateful to all of you beyond words. If the first piece sounds familiar, “Che gelida manina” was the first aria we ever shared on Opera Daily. We are listening to Luciano Pavarotti sing the role of Rodolfo (tenor) and Mirella Freni sing the role of Mimì (soprano). She responds with an aria of her own, “Mi chiamano Mimì (“Yes, they call me Mimi”), and then they sing of their newly found love in the duet “O soave fanciulla” (“Oh lovely girl”). ![]() In Act I, Rodolfo introduces himself to Mimì in the aria “Che gelida manina”(“What a frozen little hand”). La Bohème is one of those great love stories that make us believe, no matter how predictable the outcome. Mimì and Rodolfo fall in love (not so fast this is opera, remember?), but soon it becomes clear that Mimì is sick. On Christmas Eve, a girl named Mimì knocks on their door looking for a light for her candle (hers has blown out), as the group keeps warm by feeding their stove with pages from Rodolfo’s (row-DOLL-foe) latest poem. ![]() They live in a cardboard box, with little to their names, but they pursue their art and are happy! Rodolfo is a poet, sharing a small room in Paris with his friends Marcello, a painter Schaunard, a musician and Colline, a philosopher. La Bohème was first performed in 1896 in Turin, Italy. Today we’re listening to selections from Act I of the Italian opera La Bohème by Giacomo Puccini. It may have a sad ending, but La Bohème’s first two acts set on Christmas Eve felt like the perfect choice for this week. ![]()
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