He then tells them that the viands are for worse times and that they instead are going to spend Christmas Eva at Cafè Momus, a few blocks down the road. When Schaunard understands that the others aren’t listening, as they are only interested in the food and the wine, he sends them all to hell. But giving the bird some parsley made it fall off the perch and the money was paid. He explains the reason for his fortune… An eccentric Englishman (whose accent he imitates in a few phrases) needed a musician and had pointed at a Parrot and told Schaunard to play until it died, obviously trying to trick him. Schaunard, Musician (Baritone) enters with wine, food, and wood. He too complains about the harsh times, as he hasn’t been able to pawn some of his books. Marcello proposes his painting, but as the paint would smell, they agree on sacrificing the manuscript for Rodolfo’s new novel. They don’t even have money to buy wood for the stove, so they decide to burn something else. Marcello is painting and Rodolfo is writing but the cold is unbearable. Rodolfo, Poet, and Marcello, Painter, share the top floor of a tenement house. We jump right into the drama… Act 1 – Christmas Eve in Quartier Latin The four friends, Rodolfo, Marcello, Colline, and Schaunard go under the name of “The four musketeers”, as they are never far from each other for long. It was also a place for entertainment with widespread prostitution. It was a place where you could find cheap accommodation if you didn’t mind sharing it with bugs and having questionable neighbors. The inhabitants were also younger than in other parts of Paris, mostly without family. The Latin quarters were homes for poor people… Artists, Musicians, and all kinds of Wanna-bes. Apart from the third Act that’s set in the outskirts of the city.

The period for La Bohème is the 1830s, and the exact location is Quartier Latin, The Latin quarters. Background – The Opera La Bohème is set in… Paris. Please keep your phone turned off when inside the theater. Print it, fold it, and keep it in your pocket as a help when you’re at the Opera. Marcello’s girlfriend.īased on the novel Scènes de la vie de Bohème (Scenes of Bohemian life) by Henri Murgerĭownload this short Pdf-guide. Librettist – Giuseppe Giacosa, Luigi Illica Premiere – February 1, 1896, Teatro Regio, Turin, Italy

La boheme opera detroit