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- Puccini, Giacomo
Duration: 2 minutes
Description: LA BOHÈME, one of the most beloved and commercially-successful operas, is based on the 1851 novel Scenes of Bohemian Life by Henri Murger. With a libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa, Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924) worked on it from 1893 to 1895. It first appeared at the Teatro Regio in Turin on February 1, 1896, conducted by 28-year-old Arturo Toscanini. Weighed negatively against Turin’s recent Italian premiere of the Wagner opera GÖTTERDÄMMERUNG, it received a lukewarm response from audience and critics. A few months later, concertgoers filled opera houses on both sides of the Atlantic to hear it. In Act IV, the philosopher Colline, preparing to pawn his coat so as to help the dying Mimi, bids it farewell in the bass aria “Vecchia zimarra, senti.” Instrumentation: 2.2.2.2: 2.0.0.0: Timp: Hp: Str (4.4.3.3.3 in set): Solo B. Reprint edition.