La Bohème - Ruggero Leoncavallo

The literature-loving Leoncavallo recognized the music-dramatic potential of Murger's witty and insightful episodes and devised a libretto, which he offered to Puccini for setting to music. However, he declined. When Leoncavallo began to set his text to music a year later, he learned that his competitor and colleague was also working on a Bohème. Puccini's presentation of his work – with initially moderate success – as the first to the public prevented Leoncavallo's captivating sound painting, which oscillates between humor and tragedy and emphasizes the theatricality of the exhibited zest for life, from being permanently included in the repertoire.
With its lifelike characters, closely oriented on the literary source, the composer of Bajazzo achieved a distinctly more realistic characterization of the excessive yet harsh living conditions of the Parisian artist milieu, thus revealing the "unknown Bohème" as a touching alternative to the popular classic, which need not shy away from comparison with its competitor.

Opera in four acts
Libretto by the composer based on Henri Murger's "Scènes de la vie de bohème" (1845-1851)

Concert performance in Italian with German surtitles

Age recommendation from 14 years

Tickets

Public accessibility: Tram 1, 7 I Stop: Kaiser-Josef Platz/Oper