La bohème - Schedule, Program & Tickets

A celebration of youth, love and joie de vivre through the eyes of Parisian bohemians

Approximate duration: 2 hours 15 minutes, 1 break 20 minutes

In Italian, subtitles in Czech, English

State Opera Choir
Orchestra of the State Opera
Prague Philharmonic Children's Choir

Puccini's La bohème is one of the most performed operas in the world. Inspired by the Paris-based painter and writer Henry Murger's book Scènes de la vie de bohème, which had enjoyed great popularity since its publication in 1851, the composer immediately sensed the work's enormous dramatic potential. Giacomo Puccini entrusted the text to the librettists and playwrights Giuseppe Giacosa and Luigi Illica, whom he held in high esteem; their collaborations are among the most successful in operatic history – on a par with those between W.A. Mozart and Lorenzo da Ponte or Richard Strauss and Hugo von Hofmannsthal. The first opera on which Puccini, Giacosa and Illica worked together was La bohème, followed by Tosca and Madama Butterfly. It ended in 1906 with Giacosa's death.

La bohème was first performed on February 1, 1896 at the Teatro Regio in Turin, conducted by Arturo Toscanini. The opera's seeming lightness, in stark contrast to the then-dominant Wagnerism, confused audiences and critics alike, leading to a tepid reaction to the premiere. But two months later the performance in Palermo was a triumph and the play has been a box office hit ever since. In La bohème - as well as later in Madama Butterfly and Turandot - Puccini showed his mastery in the musical implementation of local color.
Ondřej Havelka will conduct the State Opera production with sets by Martin Černý and costumes by Jana Zbořilová. Set against a striking backdrop of late 19th-century Paris, he tells the story of four young artists for whom friendship means more than just a word.



Subject to change.