With the premiere of La Bohème, the Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb joins theatres across Europe in marking the centenary of Giacomo Puccini’s death.
La Bohème, the renowned opera by Giacomo Puccini, set in the Parisian Latin Quarter during the 1840s, tells a tragic tale of young artists, bohemians, grisettes, and their loves. The libretto for La Bohème was penned by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa, who also collaborated with Puccini on Tosca and Madame Butterfly, drawing inspiration from Henry Murger’s novel and play Scenes from Bohemian Life. Puccini, a virtuoso of orchestration and emotional portrayal, used differing musical scores to depict two great operatic loves: the gentle and tragic devotion of the poet Rodolfo and the milliner Mimì, and the passionate, volatile romance between Marcello the painter and Musetta. Despite its unsuccessful debut, La Bohème steadily achieved more significant acclaim with each subsequent staging, ultimately establishing itself as one of the most adored and frequently performed works in the opera repertoire. A noteworthy detail is that the storyline of Puccini’s La Bohème was later adapted into a Broadway musical. Featuring unforgettable arias and duets between Rodolfo and Mimì, in which they share their life stories, as well as Musetta’s seductive aria, Puccini crafts an opera brimming with youthful spirit and charm, tempered by the hardship and eternal sorrow of struggling Parisian artists and their pure and sincere affections.
The Opera of the Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb was awarded the “Tito Strozzi” Award for its production of La Bohème in the 2023/2024 season.
