Talk:La bohème

Originality

I think something should be said about the unusual way Puccinni sets the text to music, often emphasizing the hidden emotion behind a seemingly minor remark. For example, he gives Mimi's "How stupid of me! How could I have lost the key?" an energetic melody, representing Rodolfo's joy that Mimi's visit will be prolonged. In act 3 the text for Mimi's farewell is a prosaic list of instructions for sending back her posessions from his flat; the music depicts her grief at the breakup. This isn't just a highly popular opera; it is a very original one.71.56.66.132 (talk) 12:05, 4 October 2010 (UTC)

Well, if someone has published this analyis in a reliable source, feel free to add it, but it must be referenced with full bibliographical information including page number. Voceditenore (talk) 13:46, 4 October 2010 (UTC)

Removal of redundant/unreferenced material

I've added links to the articles on Murgher's novel La Vie de Bohème (on which the opera is loosely based) and to the article about Bohemianism in the Origin of the story section. I then removed the entire section called Meaning of the title. It was full of unreferenced assertions and conjecture, but more importantly the material is irrelevant to the opera itself, and sufficiently covered in the linked articles.

I also removed the following sentences from the Recording history section:

One of the major recordings is the 1972 version conducted by Herbert von Karajan with Mirella Freni as Mimì and Luciano Pavarotti as Rodolfo. This was a recording that has given rise to much controversy because of the splendour of the sound.

It has been tagged (and rightly so) with for over a year. It shouldn't be re-added without an inline citation to a reliable source which verifies this. Voceditenore (talk) 19:03, 31 January 2011 (UTC)

Recording history section

The Recording history section is meant to be a brief account of the opera's recording history, not a comprehensive list of every commercial recording or the place to slip in your personal favourite. Add any further legitimate commericial recordings to La bohème discography. See Talk: La bohème discography, for further information. Voceditenore (talk) 15:06, 25 September 2012 (UTC)

Modernizations

This section seems a little confused. It discusses a regular production of La boheme directed by Baz Luhrman with an updated setting. It also discusses his Broadway production and then Rent, which is completely new work based on the opera's characters. Shouldn't all of this except Rent go under "Production history"? Productions of La boheme itself certainly don't qualify as "derivative works". Cheers, Markhh (talk) 02:00, 2 October 2012 (UTC)

Ref #9

What is strange about the location? All lengthy refs -- including all refs with links -- should be in the reflist in order to make reading and editing the source copy easier. This entire article should be revised in that way. Vzeebjtf (talk) 04:13, 17 November 2013 (UTC) See WP:LDR and WP:LDRHOW. Vzeebjtf (talk) 05:37, 17 November 2013 (UTC)

2009 film

Why doesn't the 2009 film have its own page? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.139.28.234 (talk) 18:10, 27 December 2013 (UTC)

You mean the 4-minute La bohème (2009 film) by Werner Herzog? -- Michael Bednarek (talk) 09:27, 28 December 2013 (UTC)

Oops, my bad, it was made in 2008. It was released in 09 which is why I got confused. Nope, not that one, the 2-hour approx. film with Anna Netrebko (sp?) and Rolando Villazon. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.139.28.234 (talk) 00:48, 29 December 2013 (UTC)

I have gone ahead and used our major source - Operadis - to clarify what this is all about. Please read the notes attached to the full listing. Also, I'm curious to know why User talk:86.139.28.234 is interested in a separate article on this one production and what makes it so special....??? Viva-Verdi (talk) 02:55, 29 December 2013 (UTC)

Why lower case?

I find "La bohème" (rather than "La Bohème") unusual, especially in English. Even in the Italian original, the title of the libretto was "La Bohème" and most (non-Wikipedian) Italian references and programmes also capitalize, as do the French. Shouldn't it be changed?--Ipigott (talk) 14:50, 30 March 2014 (UTC)

The title on an internet copy of the libretto is not the "original". Different media will use different typological conventions. For consistency, we use the one in all the major English-language opera reference works. See the WikiProject Opera guidance here which lists them and explains further. It's also the style used by the the Chicago Manual of Style and is long-established practice here. What the French Wikipedia does is immaterial, as is what the Italian ones does, although in case of the Italian WP, it's La bohème. Best, Voceditenore (talk) 15:22, 30 March 2014 (UTC)

"Critical Reception"

Why is the only "critical reception" a put-down by Benjamin Britten, who is of course a rival opera composer? Considering that it is one of the most-performed operas in the world, certainly other critics must have an opinion. 73.137.170.88 (talk) 04:00, 4 October 2015 (UTC)

I agree. Do most musicians feel the music is overly simple or is this just one guy's opinion? Brted (talk) 19:29, 15 August 2018 (UTC)

Minor correction

The pre-war Beecham recording with the London Philharmonic Orchestra is of act IV only ( issued in the US and in the UK on four 78 rpm discs Delahays (talk) 15:13, 13 September 2020 (UTC).

Featured picture scheduled for POTD

Hello! This is to let editors know that File:Advertisement for the music score of La Bohème, 1895.jpg, a featured picture used in this article, has been selected as the English Wikipedia's picture of the day (POTD) for February 1, 2023. A preview of the POTD is displayed below and can be edited at Template:POTD/2023-02-01. For the greater benefit of readers, any potential improvements or maintenance that could benefit the quality of this article should be done before its scheduled appearance on the Main Page. If you have any concerns, please place a message at Wikipedia talk:Picture of the day. Thank you! Adam Cuerden ^(talk)_{Has about 7.9% of all FPs} 08:51, 3 June 2022 (UTC)

La bohème is an opera in four acts composed by Giacomo Puccini between 1893 and 1895 to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa, based on Scènes de la vie de bohème (1851) by Henri Murger. The opera, which had its world premiere on 1 February 1896 in Turin, is set in Paris around 1830 and shows the Bohemian lifestyle of the poor seamstress Mimì and her artist friends, including Rodolfo, Marcello and Musetta. This 1895 poster was produced by Adolfo Hohenstein for the publishing house G. Ricordi & C. to advertise the musical score of La bohème, and depicts Mimì and Rodolfo at the end of the opera's third act. Knowing that Mimì is dying and Rodolfo is too poor to help her, but too much in love to separate, they agree to remain together until the spring, when the world is coming to life again and no one feels truly alone. Meanwhile, Marcello and Musetta quarrel about Musetta's flirtatiousness in counterpoint to the other pair's reconciliation.

Poster credit: Adolfo Hohenstein; restored by Adam Cuerden

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Featured picture scheduled for POTD

Hello! This is to let editors know that File:Al quartiere latino, bozzetto di Adolf Hohenstein per La Bohème (1896) - Archivio Storico Ricordi ICON000086 - Restoration.jpg, a featured picture used in this article, has been selected as the English Wikipedia's picture of the day (POTD) for June 30, 2023. A preview of the POTD is displayed below and can be edited at Template:POTD/2023-06-30. For the greater benefit of readers, any potential improvements or maintenance that could benefit the quality of this article should be done before its scheduled appearance on the Main Page. If you have any concerns, please place a message at Wikipedia talk:Picture of the day. Thank you! Adam Cuerden ^(talk)_{Has about 8.4% of all FPs.} 18:54, 18 June 2023 (UTC)

La bohème is a four-act opera composed by Giacomo Puccini between 1893 and 1895 to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa, based on Scènes de la vie de bohème (1851) by Henri Murger. The story is set in Paris around 1830 and shows the Bohemian lifestyle of a poor seamstress and her artist friends, with romantic entanglements conflicting with the ever-present need of money to survive. In Act II, set in the Quartier Latin, Musetta, a singer, pushes the bill for the group of friends' extravagant meal onto her elderly patron (who tries and fails to have a romantic date with her), after resparking her tulmultuous relationship with Marcello. This set design for Act II of La bohème was created by the German artist Adolfo Hohenstein for the world premiere in Turin on 1 February 1896. Produced with India ink and tempera on paper, the illustration is in the archives of the Italian music publishing house Casa Ricordi.

Set design credit: Adolfo Hohenstein; restored by Adam Cuerden

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