Inspired by Henri Murger's Scènes de la vie de bohème, Puccini's La Bohème has become the quintessential reference point for stories of starving artists living only for their art. This tale, of course, could only be set in Paris, at the beginning of the 19th century in a tiny attic room on the Left Bank. It is here that we find Marcello who, consumed with the creation of his masterpiece, leads an idle and aimless existence… Until the beautiful Mimi enters his life and awakens him to the possibilities of romance!
To stage this drama of love and suffering, the Opéra Royal de Wallonie-Liège calls on a first-rate cast on and offstage—a staging by Stefano Mazzonis di Pralafera with the great Angela Gheorghiu as Mimi and Romanian tenor Stefan Pop as Rodolfo—to imbue these beloved characters with pathos and palpable artistic sensitivity.