La Boheme - Welser-most

1 DVD - Label: Emi Classics - 094637745298 - La Boheme - Puccini, Giacomo (1858-1924) - Soprano: Cristina Gallardo-domas - Tenor: Marcello Giordani - Orchestra: Zurich Opera House Orchestra - Conductor: Franz Welser-most

Puccini based his opera on the autobiographical novel "Scènes de la vie de Bohème" by Henri Murger. The novel reminded him of his own bohemian existence as an impoverished student at the conservatory in Milan. During the composition process, Puccini learned that Ruggero Leoncavallo was also working on turning the novel into an opera (writing his own libretto for it) – the two composers swiftly became rivals but Puccini managed to finish his opera first which then premiered over a year before Leoncavallo's version. The masterful way in which Puccini managed to combine comedy and tragedy in this opera is almost Shakespearean. Franz Welser-Möst therefore places emphasis on getting the opera's words across. In the humourous passages, artful juggling of the words is not only present in the libretto, but is also emphasised in the score. The Begian director if this production, Puilippe Sireuil, was heavily inspired by Aki Kaurismäki's film version of Henri Murger's novel "Scènes de la vie de Bohème". Kaurismäki's great melancholic, sensitive and totally unpretentious cinematic impressions led Sireuil to picture the state of a "carefree poverty" in which the mundane bohemian students live on the edge of society. Stage designer Vincent Lamaire has been working closely with Sireuil for years and the key aspect in the set design for both of them were to base the bohemians's accomodations in completely realistic surroundings. Furniture and props are only used very sparingly.