La bohème Program

PUCCINI

LA BOHÈME

APRIL 28, 30, MAY 5, 7, 2023

Academy of Music

Part of the Kimmel Cultural Campus

The stunning pool and clubhouse. Gourmet meals. A bounty of luxurious amenities and impeccable service. Beautifully appointed residential options. The Hill at Whitemarsh redefines what it means to join a lifecare community. It’s the standard of living you expect and deserve, with the comfort of knowing you’re a part of one of the highestrated continuing care retirement communities in the nation.

LA BOHÈME

Music by Giacomo Puccini

Libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa

Rodolfo Mimì

Marcello

Musetta

Schaunard Colline

The Wanderer

Alcindoro

Parpignol

Customs-House Officer

Sergeant

Prune Man

Child Soloist

Joshua Blue

Kara Goodrich

Troy Cook

Melissa Joseph*

Benjamin Taylor*

Adam Lau*

Anthony Martinez-Briggs*

Frank Mitchell

Matteo Adams*

Michael Miller*

Matthew Maisano*

A. Edward Maddison

Liam A. Newkirk*

Conductor Director

Set Design

Costume Design

Lighting Design

Wig & Make-up Design

Associate Director

Chorus Master Stage Manager

Corrado Rovaris

Yuval Sharon*

John Conklin*

Jessica Jahn*

John Torres*

David Zimmerman

James Blaszko*

Elizabeth Braden

Jennifer Shaw

*Opera Philadelphia debut

Approximately 100 minutes with no intermission Performed in Italian with English supertitles

A co-production of Detroit Opera, Boston Lyric Opera, and Spoleto Festival USA

The Academy Series is underwritten, in part, by Judy and Peter Leone.

Major support has been provided by Ms. Lisa D. Kabnick and Mr. John H. McFadden. This project is supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts.

Maestro Corrado Rovaris' engagement as the Jack Mulroney Music Director has been made possible by Mrs. John P. Mulroney

Support for the Opera Philadelphia Orchestra and Chorus has been provided by Alice and Walter Strine, Esqs.

The Artistry Now Matching Fund was established by Barbara Augusta Teichert.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

BOARD LEADERSHIP

Stephen K. Klasko, M.D., M.B.A. | Board Chair

David B. Devan | President

Sandra K. Baldino | Vice Chair

Willo Carey | Vice Chair

Charles C. Freyer | Vice Chair

Frederick P. Huff | Secretary

Thomas Mahoney | Treasurer

MEMBERS

Sandra K. Baldino

Ira Brind

Lawrence Brownlee

Willo Carey

Katherine Christiano

Maureen Craig

William Dunbar

Mikael Eliasen

David Ferguson

Charles C. Freyer

Alexander Hankin

Valerie Harrison

Frederick P. Huff

Carole H. Johnson

John Karamatsoukas

Stephen K. Klasko, M.D., M.B.A.

Beverly Lange, M.D.

Peter Leone, Immediate Past Chairman

Thomas Mahoney

Sarah Marshall

Taneise S. Marshall

Agnes Mulroney

Bob Schena

Carolyn Horn Seidle

Barbara Augusta Teichert

Kathleen Weir

Yueyi (Kelly) Zhou

HONORARY MEMBERS

Dennis Alter

H.F. (Gerry) Lenfest †

Stephen A. Madva, Esq., Chairman Emeritus

Alan B. Miller

Alice W. Strine, Esq.

Charlotte Watts

† Deceased

Dear Friends,

I started my career as a radio disc jockey, working the graveyard shift on rock station 94.1 WYSP. Back in those days, we used to play vinyl albums by the Beatles, Led Zeppelin, and Pink Floyd in reverse, looking for hidden messages in the music we knew and loved. Those memories came flooding back to me when I first heard about director Yuval Sharon’s concept for his new production of Puccini’s La bohème, presented in reverse. What hidden meaning was he looking for? Would he find it? And what would our experience be as the audience?

We’re about to find out.

This bold idea is yet another example of the spirit of adventure and discovery that drew me to this role as Board Chair for my hometown opera company. Opera is not something from the past that should be preserved and admired from beneath a protective case in a historical wing of a museum. It is alive, ever-changing, and relevant.

La bohème closes my first season as Chair and Opera Philadelphia’s first full season back on stage since the pandemic. The challenging conditions that we’ve encountered over the past three years were faced with tremendous imagination, creativity, and determination by countless stakeholders. Through it all, our company has been resolute in affirming our role and commitment as a community asset.

Stakeholders in our future are our lifeline. An immediate way to take part in the sustainability of Opera Philadelphia is to participate in the Artistry Now Matching Fund. This matching challenge is made possible by longtime supporter and Board member, Barbara Augusta Teichert, who has generously pledged to match every new and increased gift made to Opera Philadelphia up to $2.5 million dollars now through May 2025. The impact of your gift will be doubled through this challenge. Meeting the match successfully will allow Opera Philadelphia to have the financial base needed to achieve our highest artistic goals.

I invite you to join me in this ongoing journey to move opera forward in our community, even if we must sometimes go in reverse to get there.

Warmly,

Chairman

Welcome to Opera Philadelphia

Opera Philadelphia is committed to fostering an environment of belonging and inclusion for our entire community. We have adopted this Code of Conduct to ensure the comfort and safety of all artists, contractors, staff, supporters, and volunteers. We are committed to maintaining an environment wherein everyone is treated with respect, dignity, and compassion. By purchasing a ticket or entering our environment, you agree to the tenets of Opera Philadelphia’s Code of Conduct.

We are an anti-racist organization. We are fierce advocates for the rights of our trans community. Behavior that is harmful to others or disruptive to our communal sense of belonging for all will not be tolerated.

operaphila.org/codeofconduct

FROM THE GENERAL

DIRECTOR

Dear Friends,

Welcome to the Academy of Music for the final production of the 2022-2023 Season and a unique way to experience one of the most frequently performed operas in the repertoire, Puccini’s beloved La bohème. This innovative production has delighted audiences in Detroit, Charleston, and Boston, and now it comes to life with some distinctive Philly flavor.

That begins with the Opera Philadelphia Chorus and Orchestra, our all-star team of local musicians who serve as the backbone of all the opera we present throughout each season, led by Jack Mulroney Music Director Corrado Rovaris and Chorusmaster Elizabeth Braden. At the center of our love story are Point Breeze tenor Joshua Blue as Rodolfo and Ardmore soprano Kara Goodrich as Mimì. Josh made his company debut last spring as the nefarious Duke in Rigoletto, and now he gets to show his romantic side opposite Kara, a recent graduate of Philadelphia’s Academy of Vocal Arts, where she took first prize in the 2020 Giargiari Bel Canto Competition.

We’re also thrilled to welcome Haitian American soprano Melissa Joseph, a native of Bristol, PA, in her company debut as Musetta, opposite a fellow Bucks County resident, baritone Troy Cook, in a return engagement as her love, the artist Marcello. The local talent continues with, among others, baritone Benjamin Taylor in his company debut as Schaunard, bass Frank Mitchell as Alcindoro, and the multi-talented Anthony Martinez-Briggs in the role of our narrator, The Wanderer.

These performances would not be possible without the support of you, our audience, and our community in Philadelphia. A special thank you to our Academy Series underwriters Judy and Peter Leone, and Lisa D. Kabnick and John H. McFadden. Additional thanks to Mrs. John P. Mulroney for her support of Maestro Rovaris’ engagement, Alice and Walter Strine for their support of the Opera Philadelphia Orchestra and Chorus, and to Barbara Augusta Teichert for establishing the Artistry Now Matching Fund.

Thank you all for making Opera Philadelphia a part of your lives.

David B. Devan General Director & President

ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF

LEADERSHIP

David B. Devan, General Director & President

Corrado Rovaris, Jack Mulroney Music Director

Dr. Derrell Acon, Vice President of People Operations & Inclusion

Veronica Chapman-Smith, Vice President of Community Initiatives

David Levy, Vice President of Artistic Operations

Frank Luzi, Vice President of Marketing Communications & Digital Strategy

Jeremiah Marks, Chief Financial Officer

Gina J. Range, Vice President of Development

Ken Smith, Chief of Staff

Lawrence Brownlee, Artistic Advisor

Mikael Eliasen, Artistic Advisor

MUSIC

Michael Eberhard, Director of Casting & Artistic Administration

Sarah Williams, Director of New Works & Creative Producer

Elizabeth Braden, Chorus Master & Music Administrator

J. Robert Loy, Orchestra Librarian & Personnel Coordinator

Nathan Lofton, Orchestra Contractor & Personnel Manager

Grant Loehnig, Head of Music Staff

PRODUCTION

John Toia, Director of Production

Drew Billiau, Director of Design & Technology

Stephen Dickerson, Technical Director

Millie Hiibel, Costume Director

Bridget A. Cook, Associate Director of Production

Emily Wanamaker, Artistic Operations Coordinator

COMMUNITY INITIATIVES

Christa Sechler, Education Manager

Abigail Weissman, Education Coordinator for Out-of-Schooltime Programs

Dicky Dutton, Teaching Artist

Liz Filios, Teaching Artist

Taylor Ott, Teaching Artist

Valentina Sierra, Teaching Artist

Chabrelle Williams, Teaching Artist

Rosemary Schneider, T-VOCE Conductor

Jessica Gruver, T-VOCE Accompanist

Dan Amadie, Backstage Pass Consultant

Dr. Lily Kass, Scholar in Residence

MARKETING

COMMUNICATIONS & GUEST SERVICES

Shannon Eblen, Content Director

Claire Frisbie, Director of Marketing

Michael Knight, Director of Guest Services

Steven Humes, Associate Director of Audience Development

Jeffrey Mason, Guest Services Manager

Ana Kola, Guest Services Associate

Haeg Design, Illustration and Design

DEVELOPMENT

Rebecca Ackerman, Senior Director of Development

Derren Mangum, Director of Institutional Giving

Adele Mustardo, Director of Events

Eva James Toia, Director of Major Gifts

Aisha Wiley, Director of Research

Michael Bolton, Individual & Planned Gift Officer

Catherine Perez, Membership Manager

Samantha Williams, Manager of Institutional Giving

Jessica Stehle Alfaro, Administrative & Events Coordinator

Colby Calhoun, Major Gifts Associate

PEOPLE OPERATIONS & INCLUSION

Catherine Reay, Director of Employee Engagement

Coniyah McKinney, Office Operations Coordinator

COUNSEL

Ballard Spahr, LLP, General Counsel

ARTISTS

MATTEO ADAMS he/him

Tenor | Parpignol

Beaumont, Texas

Recent: Orpheus, Orpheus in the Underworld, NYU Steinhardt; Chorus, Die Fledermaus, Central City Opera; Chorus, Otello, Opera Philadelphia

JOSHUA BLUE he/him

Tenor | Rodolfo

Aurora, Illinois

Underwritten by Judith Durkin Freyer and Charles C. Freyer

Recent: Langston, Another City, Houston Grand Opera; Soloist, Beethoven Symphony No. 9, Los Angeles Philharmonic; Duke, Rigoletto, Opera Philadelphia

Next: Tamino, The Magic Flute, Metropolitan Opera

ELIZABETH BRADEN she/her

Chorus Master

Easton, Pennsylvania

Recent: Conductor, For the Beauty of the Earth, Opera

Philadelphia; Chorus Master, Carmina Burana + Credo, Opera Philadelphia; Conductor, The Penn Chorale, University of Pennsylvania

Next: Chorus Master, 10 Days in a Madhouse, Opera Philadelphia

JOHN CONKLIN

Set Design

Recent: Set Design, La bohème, Detroit Opera, Boston Lyric Opera, Spoleto Festival USA; Artistic Advisor, Boston Lyric Opera

Opera Philadelphia debut

TROY COOK he/him

Baritone | Marcello

Eminence, Kentucky

Recent: Sharpless, Madame Butterfly, Palm Beach Opera; Falke, Die Fledermaus, Central City Opera; Enrico, Lucia di Lammermoor, Madison Opera

Next: Athanaël, Thaïs, Utah Opera

2022 Rigoletto

2023 Carmina Burana + Credo, 2022 Otello, 2022 Rigoletto

Opera Philadelphia debut

2019 La bohème, 2018 Lucia di Lammermoor, 2017 Elizabeth Cree

ARTISTS

KARA GOODRICH she/her

Soprano | Mimì

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Underwritten by Charlotte Watts

Recent: Pamina, The Magic Flute, Utah Festival Opera; Micaëla, Carmen, Utah Festival Opera; Mimì, La bohème, Annapolis Opera

Next: To be Certain of a Dawn, Singing City, Philadelphia

JESSICA

JAHN she/her

Costume Designer

Brooklyn, New York

Recent: Costume Designer, Coal Country, The Public; Costume Designer, Orfeo, San Francisco Opera; Costume Designer, Blue, Washington National Opera

Next: Costume Designer, Hamlet, The Public

MELISSA JOSEPH she/her

Soprano | Musetta

Atlanta, Georgia

Underwritten by Sheila Kessler

2022 Rigoletto

Opera Philadelphia debut

Opera Philadelphia debut

Recent: Micaëla (cover), Carmen, Opera Theatre Saint Louis; Mona, Cook Shack, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis New Works Collective

Next: Mrs. Gleaton, Susannah, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis

ADAM LAU he/him

Bass | Colline

San Francisco, California

Underwritten by Katherine and John Karamatsoukas

Recent: Don Basilio, The Barber of Seville, New Orleans Opera; Dr. Grenvil, La traviata, San Francisco Opera; Dr. Grenvil, La traviata, Metropolitan Opera

Next: Montano, Otello, European tour with Metropolitan Opera

A. EDWARD MADDISON he/him Tenor | Prune Man

Mullica Hill, New Jersey

Recent: Chorus, Otello, Opera Philadelphia, Chorus, Rigoletto, Opera Philadelphia, Soloist, Love in the Park, Opera Philadelphia

Opera Philadelphia debut

2020 LOVE in the Park

ARTISTS

MATTHEW MAISANO he/him, they/them

Baritone | Sergeant

Wallingford, Pennsylvania

Recent: Morbio, Die schweigsame Frau, Pittsburgh Festival Opera; Senex, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Natchez Festival of Music; Pandolfe, Cendrillon, Miami Music Festival

Next: Baritone Soloist, Vesperae solennes de confessore (Mozart), Trinity Church Swarthmore

ANTHONY MARTINEZ-BRIGGS they/them, he/him

The Wanderer

Waldorf, Maryland

Recent: Composer/Performer with ILL DOOTS, Multitudes, World Cafe Live & Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts; Youssif/ Daniel, Kiss, Wilma Theater; Sound Designer, Our Norristown, Theater Horizon

Next: Deviser/Performer, Other Orbits, Applied Mechanics

MICHAEL MILLER he/him

Baritone | Customs-House Officer

Meadville, Pennsylvania

Recent: Masetto, Don Giovanni, Florida Grand Opera; Prince Yamadori/Registrar, Madame Butterfly, Florida Grand Opera; Lt. Audebert, Silent Night, Glimmerglass Festival

Opera Philadelphia debut

Opera Philadelphia debut

FRANK MITCHELL

Bass-baritone | Alcindoro

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Recent: Bass soloist, Mozart Requiem, Drexel University; Bass Soloist, Handel’s Messiah, Alabama Symphony; Bass Soloist, Handel’s Messiah, Stockton State University

Opera Philadelphia debut

2022 Rigoletto, 2020 LOVE in the Park, 2018 Sky on Swings

Next: Bass Soloist, Haydn, Mass in B flat, West Jersey Chamber Society

CORRADO ROVARIS

Conductor

Bergamo, Italy

Recent: Conductor, Falstaff, New National Theatre Tokyo; Conductor, Don Giovanni, Teatro Regio di Parma; Conductor, Otello, Opera Philadelphia

Next: Conductor, Alfredo il Grande, Donizetti Opera Festival

2023 Otello, 2022 Rigoletto, 2022 Oedipus Rex + Lilacs

ARTISTS

YUVAL SHARON he/him Director

Chicago, Illinois

Recent: Director, Proximity, Lyric Opera of Chicago; Director, La bohème, Boston Lyric Opera; Director, The Valkyries, Detroit Opera

Next: Director, Orfeo, Santa Fe Opera

BENJAMIN TAYLOR he/him Baritone | Schaunard

Waldorf, Maryland

Recent: Papageno, The Magic Flute, Metropolitan Opera; Bello, La fanciulla del West, Bayerische Staatsoper; Schaunard, La bohème, Boston Lyric Opera

Next: Silvio, Pagliacci, Austin Opera

JOHN TORRES he/him Lighting Design

Brooklyn, New York

Recent: Lighting Designer, The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window, BAM; Lighting Designer, Pit, Ballet de Paris, Paris Opera; Lighting Designer, Tristan and Isolde, Santa Fe Opera

Next: Lighting Designer, Intelligence, Houston Grand Opera

DAVID ZIMMERMAN Wig & Make-up Design

Mt. Pleasant, Texas

Recent: Wig & Make-up Design, The Shining, Lyric Opera of Kansas City; Wig & Make-up Design, Das Rheingold, Dallas Opera; Wig & Make-up Designer, Neiman Marcus Christmas windows and event with Martha Stewart

Next: Wig & Make-up Design, La bohème, Washington National Opera

THE WANDERER COVER Cory O'Niell Walker

CHILD COVER Cavan Hurley

Opera Philadelphia debut

Opera Philadelphia debut

Opera Philadelphia debut

2022 Rigoletto, 2019 The Love for Three Oranges, 2019 Semele

CHORUS

Support for the Opera Philadelphia Orchestra and Chorus has been provided by Alice and Walter Strine, Esqs.

SOPRANO

Veronica Chapman-Smith

Natalie Esler

Nöel Graves-Williams

Julie-Ann Green

Valerie Haber

Jessica Moreno

Jorie Moss

Jessica Mary Murphy

Christine Nass

Aimee Pilgermayer

Sophia Santiago

Evelyn Santiago Schulz

Amy Spencer

ALTO

Tanisha L. Anderson

Joanna Gates

Heidi Kurtz

Megan McFadden

Meghan McGinty

Maren Montalbano

Natasha Nelson

Ellen Grace Peters

Bergen Price

Paula Rivera-Dantagnan

Kaitlyn Tierney

TENOR

Matteo Adams

Sang B. Cho

Colin Doyle

Corey Don

Christopher Hodson

A. Edward Maddison

Al-Jabril Muhammad

Andrew Skitko

George Ross Somerville

Daniel Taylor

Cory O’Niell Walker

Steve Williamson

BASS

Gregory Cantwell

Stephen Dagrosa

Lucas DeJesus

Matthew Fisher

James Osby Gwathney, Jr.

Mark Hosseini

Steven E. Hyder

Matthew Maisano

Brenton Mattox-Scott

John David Miles

Michael Miller

Robert Phillips

PHILADELPHIA

BOYS CHOIR

Jeffrey R. Smith, Artistic Director and Conductor

PHILADELPHIA

GIRLS CHOIR

Nathan Wadley, Artistic Director and Conductor

Danica Berger

Ella Boonn

Rex Bremner

Elliet Brown

Carmelo Carino

Henry Thomas Gralish

Chloe Greenawalt

Elija Horst

Cavan Hurley

Asa S. Johnson

Kael Käufer

Brandon Lau

Isaac Mendenhall

Ethan Monberg

Aishee Nanda

Liam A. Newkirk

Nimi Oguntunde

Mia Castro-Diephouse

Rut Patil

Sophia Phillips

Sofia Stanev Potts

Katya Tymoczko

Elyse Walker

ORCHESTRA

Support for the Opera Philadelphia Orchestra and Chorus has been provided by Alice and Walter Strine, Esqs.

VIOLIN 1

Luigi Mazzocchi, concertmaster

Robyn Quinnett

Meichen Liao-Barnes

Donna Grantham

Elizabeth Kaderabek

Natasha Colkett

Diane Barnett

Gared Crawford

Lisa Vaupel

Rebecca Ansel

Seula Lee

VIOLIN 2

Tess Varley, principal

Heather Zimmerman Messé

Maya Shiraishi

Sarah DuBois

Yoori Kim Williams

Mary Loftus

Catherine Kei Fukuda

Eliza Cho

Yu-Hui Tamae Lee

VIOLA

Jonathan Kim, principal

Jay Julio

Julia DiGaetani

Elizabeth Jaffe

Yoshihiko Nakano

Ellen Trainer

Steven Heitlinger

CELLO

Branson Yeast, principal

Vivian Barton Dozor

Brooke Beazley

Jennie Lorenzo

David Moulton

Jasmine Pai

BASS

Alexander Bickard, principal

Anne Peterson

Stephen Groat

Brent Edmondson

FLUTE

Brendan Dooley, principal

Eileen Grycky

Kimberly Troiler, piccolo

OBOE

Geoffrey Deemer, principal

Nick Masterson

Evan Ocheret, English horn

CLARINET

John Diodati, principal

Allison Herz

Simon Bakos, bass clarinet

BASSOON

Erik Höltje, principal

Emeline Chong

HORN

John David Smith, principal

Ryan Stewart

Karen Schubert

Lyndsie Wilson

TRUMPET

Bryan Kuszyk, principal

Steven Heitzer

Frank Ferraro

TROMBONE

Robert Gale, principal

Ed Cascarella

Phil McClelland

TUBA

Paul Erion, principal

TIMPANI

Martha Hitchins, principal

PERCUSSION

Ralph Sorrentino, principal

Chris Hanning

Dave Nelson

HARP

Sophie Bruno Labiner, principal

ARTISTIC & PRODUCTION STAFF

Principal Pianist ..................................................................................................... Grant Loehnig

Associate Pianist ................................................................................................... Michael Lewis

Assistant Stage Managers ........................................................... Megan Coutts, Hunter Smith

Assistant Lighting Designer ................................................................... Aleksandra Anistratova

Technical Director ......................................................................................... Stephen Dickerson

Head Electrician ............................................................................................ Chris Hetherington

Head Props ................................................................................................................. Paul Lodes

Head Flyman .................................................................................................. Jay Wojnarowski

Automation .......................................................................................................... Mike Troncone

Assistant Electrician/Programmer ................................................................. John Allerheiligen

Props ............................................................. Avista Theatrical Custom Theatrical Services LTD

Supertitle Operator ................................................................................................... Tony Solitro

Costume Associate ................................................................................................. Becca Austin

Hair and Make-Up Assistant .............................................................................. Amanda Clark

Wardrobe Supervisor .............................................................................................. Elisa Hurley

Supers

Maddy Gillespie

Robert Hawkey

Kris Henderson

Lexi Mignogna

Timmy Sheridan

Jack Taylor

Opera Philadelphia thanks the following labor organizations whose members, artists, craftsmen, and craftswomen greatly contribute to our performances:

American Federation of Musicians, Local 77 is the collective bargaining agent for Opera Philadelphia Orchestra musicians.

American Guild of Musical Artists / The American Guild of Musical Artists, the union of professional singers, dancers, and production personnel in opera, ballet, and concert, affiliated with the AFL-CIO, represents the Artists and Staging Staff for all purposes of collective bargaining.

International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees / Local 8

Theatrical Wardrobe Union / Local 799, I.A.T.S.E.

United Scenic Artists / Local 829, I.A.T.S.E.

Box Office and Front of House Employees Union / Local B29, I.A.T.S.E.

Highway Truck Drivers and Helpers / Local 107, Teamsters

Opera Philadelphia is committed to making opera accessible and affordable.

Opera has a reputation for being expensive, but at Opera Philadelphia, we work to make sure you have options at a range of price points. Although it depends on the production, the theater, and the available seats, tickets to our performances generally range from $23-299.

In recent years, online ticket brokers have bought our tickets to resell at high markups. Because we want you to get the best value, it is always safest to buy through operaphila.org, or give Jeff and Ana a call at 215.732.8400.

Rush deals are available for many performances. Student and community rush tickets are available at the box office two hours prior to the performance time. Additionally, you can save with youth tickets; group deals; and VIVACE, our program for ages 21-45.

Opera Philadelphia is also an Art-Reach ACCESS Partner, offering $2 tickets to those from a low-income household or household with disabilities who have an ACCESS Card.

We don't want cost to be a barrier to you attending an Opera Philadelphia performance. Check out our offers through the QR code or sign up for our email list and receive information about future discounts and special promotions.

Audio Description is available for the Friday, May 7 performance only. Enter Performance Code: 144684 | For more information, visit operaphila.org/ad Audio Description for the Opera Philadelphia 2022-2023 Season has been underwritten by

The financial support of Opera Philadelphia’s members and donors is critically important as we emerge from the unprecedented challenges presented by the pandemic.

Inspired by Opera Philadelphia’s continued commitment to operatic excellence during this critical time, longtime supporter and Board of Directors member Barbara Augusta Teichert established the Artistry Now Matching Fund and pledged $2.5 million in matching funds for new and increased gifts made through May 31, 2025.

THE STORY OF LA BOHÈME

as retold by Yuval Sharon

La bohème tells the story of three couples: the romantic poet Rodolfo and the serene, self-possessed flowergirl Mimì; the temperamental painter Marcello and the fiercely independent singer Musetta; the lovably pedantic musician Schaunard and the taciturn philosopher Colline.

DEATH

In their cramped, spare apartment, lovesickness blocks Rodolfo and Marcello from creating. Schaunard and Colline try making the best of their impoverishment by pretending their meager meal is a grand ball. Musetta bursts in with the gravely ill Mimì; Schaunard recognizes that she has little time left. Marcello and Musetta reconcile and search for a doctor and any last comfort they can offer Mimì; Colline offers to sell the beloved coat that Schaunard bought for him to pay for the doctor.

Briefly alone, Mimì and Rodolfo recall the first time they met. The friends come back with medicine, money, and a muff for Mimì’s cold hands. They await the doctor’s arrival, but it’s too late: Mimì’s life slips through their fingers.

BARRIÈRE

Three months earlier. At a border crossing at dawn, Mimì desperately seeks out Marcello. He has been living with Musetta as boarders in a shabby tavern, where

Photo by Olivia Moon

he paints and she offers singing lessons. Mimì confesses that Rodolfo has been erratic and cruel to her and wants to end their relationship. Rodolfo has slept at the tavern, and as he confides to Marcello, Mimì eavesdrops on the conversation. At first, Rodolfo lies about the reason for their break-up: he’s bored with her, and she’s a terrible flirt. But he lets down his guard and reveals the truth: he knows that Mimì is very sick and feels powerless to help her. With the secret of her sickness revealed, Mimì holds back her emotions and ends their relationship. But as the two of them recount all the many things they will miss — and with Marcello and Musetta’s latest turbulent break-up unfolding in the background — Rodolfo and Mimì decide to stay together only through the winter.

MOMUS

Two months earlier — Christmas Eve. The streets of Paris are ablaze with life and a carnivalesque anarchy. Amid shouts of street hawkers, Rodolfo buys Mimì a bonnet near the Café Momus before introducing her to his friends. Musetta enters ostentatiously on the arm of the wealthy Alcindoro. Trying to regain the painter’s attention, she sings a waltz about her irresistible beauty. Marcello successfully ignores her, but when Musetta pretends to suffer from a pinched foot, he falls into a passionate frenzy. As the couple reunites, a rousing march fills the streets.

LOVE

Earlier that night. Marcello and Rodolfo try to keep warm by burning pages from Rodolfo’s drama. Colline enters in time to catch the last of the dying flames. Schaunard, newly employed as a music tutor, surprises them all with a bounty of food, wine, cigars, and wood for the stove. He urges the friends to save the provisions — in case of a gloomy future — and eat a celebratory meal at Café Momus instead. Rodolfo stays behind to write, but he’s not inspired — until a knock at the door signals the arrival of Mimì, his new neighbor, whose candle has gone out on the drafty stairs. Out of breath, she faints to the floor, but a cool splash of water revives her. Rodolfo ignites her candle, but when the two search for Mimì’s dropped key, both candles are blown out. In the moonlight, the poet takes the girl’s cold hand and offers to warm it for her.

He introduces himself as a poet who lives with hope in his heart. She tells him about her quiet life and the poems she reads in the flowers. Overwhelmed with love, they go out into the night, their cries of love echoing into eternity.

Approximately 100 minutes with no intermission.

DIRECTOR'S NOTE

by Yuval Sharon

Sandro Veronesi’s line from his book Il colibrì (The Hummingbird) accompanies a story that hops back and forth in time, narrating a tender romance that ended in heartbreak.

Veronesi’s goal is to “demolish the tyranny of chronology” and to place more emphasis on how things happen, rather than what happens. Along the way, the reader is confronted with the unruly and indirect nature of memory, and she may come to understand what the philosopher Søren Kierkegaard summarized so perfectly: “Life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forwards.”

Veronesi’s recent novel is a fitting point of departure for this production of La bohème, which begins at the end and works in reverse order, back to the first moment Mimì and Rodolfo met. The kind of narrative experiment undertaken in Veronesi’s novel seems hard to imagine in an art form like opera, where the “tyranny of chronology” seems fixed in the rigid architecture of the music. Most operas would not sustain this kind of approach, with arrow-like stories that move in only one direction.

But Bohème tells its story in a highly unconventional manner: Puccini described the work as a piece in quattro quadri, or “four pictures.” Henri Murger’s original work, Scenes from the Bohemian Life, was published in serial form from 1845 to 1848, resulting in an episodic, impressionistic snapshot of a revolutionary underbelly of society. Atmosphere and color are more important than the narrative arcs we find in great novels of the time, and the resulting work resembles the nascent art of photography more than classic literature. If Murger’s writing was photographic, Puccini’s opera—written as the “moving image” was born— is powerfully cinematic. Simultaneous action, interspersed scenes, overlapping events—all of this creates a new and very modern sense of time that is barely contained by the musical meter. There are few, if any, moments in opera that

“How do you begin telling the story of a great love when you know it ended in disaster?”

capture falling in love—with its anarchic rush of impressions and the psychedelic dissolution of time—as effectively as Act II. Bohème may be the most popular opera in the repertoire, but its radical qualities are paradoxically undervalued. (Is the opera too popular to claim it for the avant-garde?)

One of the remarkable discoveries we’ve made in preparing this production is how lightning-fast the entire opera plays out. Performed without intermission and with one discrete cut in the first act, Bohème clocks in at just over 90 minutes. This comes as a shock to most opera patrons, who think of Bohème as nearly threehour affairs. Cumbersome scene changes—taking the notion of “four pictures” literally—usually necessitate at least one, if not two, intermissions. The pressure to “over-do" Bohème also creates uneasy contradictions: the starving artists describe their garret as “squalid”, “drafty,” and “cramped,” but most productions have them living in what looks like the most enviable penthouse in Paris. I wanted to create a production that emphasized the swiftness of the music and the brevity of these lives; all the myriad details that make up a typical Bohème—the stereotypes and clichés, as well as the pictorial expectations—have been sifted away in search of the work’s true gold. We are after the essence of this work, which I think of as the perfectly preserved energy of being young, full of hope, and in love with life.

There are big questions invoked when we perform a classic like La bohème in a non-traditional way, such as: how and why do we perform masterpieces in the here and now? What is to be gained by disrupting conventional listening? Is it possible to treat operatic masterpieces with the same interpretive flexibility that, say, Shakespeare’s plays demand? While those provocations offer a background to the work we’ve done with this opera, they are also, fittingly, not our endgame, but our point of departure. Likewise, I hope it offers you a point of departure to listen and experience the opera as if it is a world premiere.

More importantly, I hope it invites you to explore a personal meditation on life and love. To return to Veronesi: how do you tell your great love story? Do you start from the beginning, or do you chart a meandering path? Disaster, death, and loss will inevitably befall even the happiest lives and loves—but is that really the end of the story?

by Dr. Lily Kass

Adapted from a collection of short stories by Henri Murger, and adapted in turn into the hit musical Rent, La bohème feels evergreen. Why does it continue to feel relevant year after year? Why do we continually return to this opera, this music, these characters?

La bohème is a story that includes multitudes. Yes, it is a story of tragic love, but it is also a story about how people band together and survive the world as best they can, with the help of art, humor, and friendship. Although the opera takes place in 19th-century Paris, it could take place anytime and anywhere, because these themes are common to the human experience.

Puccini’s music intensifies the emotional power of the story of Mimì and Rodolfo, Marcello and Musetta, Colline and Schaunard. Musical motives recur throughout the opera, tying together different scenes and layering meanings. For example, the first few notes of Mimì’s aria “Mi chiamano Mimì,” recurs several times throughout the opera, becoming Mimì’s calling card. It reminds the audience of how the character views herself: as a seamstress who lives a lonely and humble life, but who is transported by the beauty of sunlight in spring and the scent of flowers. The text also has a circular quality; for instance, Acts I and Act IV take place in the same setting. The libretto, written by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa, references this circularity through poetic imagery as well. For example, in Act IV, Rodolfo says Mimì is “beautiful like the dawn.” The dying Mimì corrects him: “You wanted to say: ‘beautiful like the sunset.”

Yuval Sharon’s production revisits this perennially popular opera, but it takes unique advantage of the tapestry of musical memories that Puccini weaves through his score by flipping the dramatic action on its head and framing it in flashback. We see Mimì die in Rodolfo’s arms, then we see the lovers decide to part in the spring, then enjoying Christmas Eve on the streets of Paris, and finally we see them meeting and falling in love. These scenes are packaged as memories, presented to us by a narrator who encourages the audience to ask

La bohème is the most frequently performed work in Opera Philadelphia’s repertoire. The same is true of many other opera companies, both in America and abroad.

whether every step of the story is inevitable. Does it all have to happen this way? What if a character had made a different choice?

The idea of making significant changes to a pre-existing opera to make a statement about the piece or to fit the evolving needs of opera audiences is by no means a new phenomenon. Regietheater productions, in which a director imposes a new framework or setting (La bohème on the moon? Lohengrin in a science laboratory?) on an old story, have been popular for decades. Since the very beginnings of opera, pre-existing works have been adapted and translated to meet the needs of new audiences.

In the 17th and 18th centuries, it was common for singers to switch out arias in an opera for ones they felt suited their voices better, even if they were by a completely different composer or changed the opera’s plot. Pastiches, which created a patchwork of pieces culled from different operas and loosely tied together into a story, were also common in the 17th and 18th centuries. Sharon’s La bohème fits squarely into this tradition, while also drawing influences from creative narrative structures in literature, film, and theater. (For example, Harold Pinter’s 1978 play Betrayal and Steven Sondheim’s 1981 musical Merrily We Roll

Along both unfold in reverse chronological order.)

For those of us who have seen La bohème before, seeing it backwards may spark new insights into the characters’ essential dispositions and fundamental motivations, even as we delight in the familiar music and text. For newcomers to the work, this La bohème will not disappoint. The tight construction of the score and libretto allows this creative retelling to function dramatically, while reinforcing one of the piece’s core themes: Love persists, even in the face of death.

Dr. Lily Kass is an interdisciplinary scholar, educator, and artist, and serves as Opera Philadelphia’s Scholar in Residence.

Photo by Olivia Moon

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