Forthcoming OSE events
OSE Proudly Presents ...
LA BOHEME by Puccini
on Wednesday 15th and Thursday 16th April 2026 at 7pm
at
Christ Church, St Leonards-on-Sea, TN37 6GL
Director Marcio da Silva
at
Christ Church, St Leonards-on-Sea, TN37 6GL
Director Marcio da Silva
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Opera South East, in partnership with an 18-piece orchestra from the Hastings Philharmonic Orchestra, will produce an opera with two fully staged performances of Puccini's La Bohème. This will be delivered by OSE & HPO providing an academy for singers and conductors to work with chorus and orchestra.
In a new format for OSE, this production is sung in English/Italian, with English Surtitles. Marcio da Silva - Stage/Music Director Marjorie da Silva - Stage Manager Orlando Bishop - Set/Tech Armand Birk, Jon Audric Nelson, Margarita Miikhailova, Marcio da Silva - Conductor Opera South East HPO Ensemble HPO Songbirds Principal performers John Twitchen - Rodolfo Ana Conjar, Annie Bennett - Mimi Denzel Bruhn, Nattan Ferreira - Marcello Beata Vymlatilova, Imogen Rowe - Musetta Flávio Lauria - Schaunard Jay Rockwell - Colline Chris Swithinbank - Benoit/Alcindoro Jonathan Todd - Parpignol John Rycroft - Sergeant Running Time 2 hours 50 minutes, including 20 minute interval Tickets £16.17, £21.56,£26.95
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La bohème is a tale of love at first sight and the harsh reality of desperate poverty. This tragic story and Puccini’s beautiful music have made this one of the most frequently performed operas of recent times.
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Brief Synopsis
Act 1
On Christmas Eve, a group of bohemians living in Paris are barely surviving the harsh winter. They keep warm by feeding their stove with pages from the poet Rodolfo’s latest poem.
When Schaunard the musician arrives with funds from his latest commission, the group celebrate their good fortune. The landlord Benoît arrives, demanding rent but the group get him drunk instead. They all head out to celebrate but Rodolfo stays behind. Whilst alone, his neighbour Mimì knocks at the door asking for a light, as hers has gone out and she cannot find her way in the dark. Rodolfo, instantly infatuated, invites her to the café and they leave together.
Act 2
On a busy street in the Latin Quarter, Rodolfo and Mimì join the rest of the group at Café Momus. The painter Marcello spots his ex-lover Musetta with her wealthy admirer Alcindoro, though it is clear she has grown bored with him. Longing to return to Marcello, she sings a risqué song to get his attention. Musetta then orders Alcindoro away and steals a chance to fall into Marcello’s arms. When the bill arrives for their meal, Musetta declares that Alcindoro will pay for it when he returns, and they quickly flee the scene.
Act 3
Months later, Rodolfo and Mimì, though now a couple, are weathering tough times. Rodolfo is driven to despair by Mimì’s illness, which he fears is slowly killing her. Knowing that he can do nothing to help in the abject poverty in which they live, he has taken to being jealous and unkind in order to drive her away.
When Mimì discovers this, she confronts Rodolfo and the two agree to separate but are unable to do so right away. They agree to wait until spring. Musetta and Marcello also separate, much less amicably, after a fierce argument.
Act 4
Spring has come and gone, and Rodolfo and Mimì have separated. Marcello tells Rodolfo that Mimì has since started seeing a wealthy viscount and is living like a queen.
However, Musetta arrives later that day with a desperately ill Mimì, who she found wandering the streets. Together they help her to bed and each rush off to sell their belongings for medicine. Rodolfo and Mimì both declare their love for each other. Mimì is overwhelmed with a violent coughing fit, after which she drifts off to sleep. Shortly after Schaunard announces that she has died and Rodolfo weeps by her side…
Programme notes
Puccini and the Bohemian life.
La bohème was undoubtedly coloured by Puccini’s own experiences whilst living as a penniless student at the Milan Conservatoire (1880–1883). He wrote ‘I lived that bohème, when there wasn’t yet any thought stirring in my brain of seeking the theme of an opera.’
The entertaining real-life incidents recorded in his letters make it clear that Puccini could relate to his four bohemians, living hand-to-mouth in their freezing garret, outwitting their creditors, and falling in and out of love. Indeed, Puccini’s landlord was a post office official, and had so little trust in his ability to pay the rent that he would open Puccini’s letters, which contained the monthly instalments of his scholarship, and take the rent money out himself.
One year Puccini shared his digs with fellow musician Mascagni, future composer of the hugely successful opera Cavalleria Rusticana. When Puccini’s creditors visited him, he would hide in the wardrobe while Mascagni told them he had gone out, and vice versa when Mascagni’s creditors called the next day. Such stories resonate with Act 1 of the opera where the four bohemians throw Benoît the landlord out of their apartment empty-handed, having got him drunk. Puccini and Mascagni’s lack of funds would often force them to cook in their room, which was strictly against the rules of their landlord. The two young men recall Puccini improvising as loudly as possible on the piano to drown any noise caused by the clatter of plates. We also know that Puccini once pawned his only coat so that he could take out a young ballet dancer from La Scala. This is reminiscent of Act IV of La bohème where Colline pawns his beloved coat, the final tie to warmth and comfort, to help the dying Mimì.
Puccini’s score is full of scene painting and each character has its own leitmotif. It is abundantly clear from his letters that this was a world he understood well, and Puccini brought to life its many nuances in his music: the atmosphere of a busy Parisian café, the boisterous energy of the bohemians as they work; stark wintriness; the desperation of poverty; the excitement of flirtation; the soaring joy of love and the devastation of grief.
Extended Synopsis
Act 1
Marcello is painting while Rodolfo gazes out of the window. They complain of the cold. To keep warm, they burn the manuscript of Rodolfo's drama. Colline, the philosopher, enters shivering and disgruntled at not having been able to pawn some books. Schaunard, the musician of the group, arrives with food, wine, and cigars. He explains the source of his riches: a job with an eccentric English gentleman, who ordered him to play his violin to a parrot until it died. The others hardly listen to his tale as they set up the table to eat and drink. Schaunard interrupts, telling them that they must save the food for the days ahead: tonight, they will all celebrate his good fortune by dining at Cafe Momus, and he will pay.
The friends are interrupted by Benoît, the landlord, who arrives to collect the rent. They flatter him and ply him with wine. In his drunkenness, he begins to boast of his amorous adventures, but when he also reveals that he is married, they drive him from the room - without the rent payment - in comic moral indignation. The rent money is divided for their evening out in the Latin quarter.
Marcello, Schaunard and Colline go out, but Rodolfo remains alone for a moment in order to finish an article he is writing, promising to join his friends soon. There is a knock at the door. It is a girl who lives in another room in the building. Her candle has blown out, and she has no matches; she asks Rodolfo to light it. She is briefly overcome with faintness, and Rodolfo helps her to a chair and offers her a glass of wine. She thanks him. After a few minutes, she says that she is better and must go. But as she turns to leave, she realizes that she has lost her key.
Her candle goes out in the draught, Rodolfo's candle goes out too, and the pair stumble in the dark. Rodolfo, eager to spend time with the girl, to whom he is already attracted, finds the key and pockets it, feigning innocence. He takes her cold hand (Che gelida manina - 'Your tiny hand is frozen’) and tells her of his life as a poet, then asks her to tell him more about her life. The girl says her name is Mimì (Sì, mi chiamano Mimì - 'Yes, they call me Mimì’), and describes her simple life as an embroiderer. Impatiently, the waiting friends call Rodolfo. He answers and turns to see Mimì bathed in moonlight (duet, Rodolfo and Mimì: O soave fanciulla - 'Oh lovely girl’). They realize that they have fallen in love. Rodolfo suggests remaining at home with Mimì, but she decides to accompany him to the Cafe Momus. As they leave, they sing of their newfound love.
Act 2
The Latin Quarter (same evening)
A great crowd, including children, has gathered with street sellers announcing their wares (chorus: Aranci, datteri! Caldi i marroni! - 'Oranges, dates! Hot chestnuts!’). The friends arrive; Rodolfo buys Mimì a bonnet from a vendor, while Colline buys a coat and Schaunard a horn. Parisians gossip with friends and bargain with the vendors; the children of the streets clamour to see the wares of Parpignol, the toy seller. The friends enter the Cafe Momus.
As the men and Mimì dine at the cafe, Musetta, formerly Marcello's sweetheart, arrives with her rich (and elderly) government minister admirer, Alcindoro, whom she is tormenting. It is clear she is tired of him. To the delight of the Parisians and the embarrassment of her patron, she sings a risqué song (Musetta's waltz: Quando me’n vo - 'When I go along'), hoping to reclaim Marcello's attention. The ploy works; at the same time, Mimì recognizes that Musetta truly loves Marcello. To be rid of Alcindoro for a bit, Musetta pretends to be suffering from a tight shoe and sends him to the shoemaker to get her shoe mended. Alcindoro leaves, and Musetta and Marcello fall rapturously into each other's arms.
The friends are presented with their bill. However, Schaunard's purse has gone missing and no one else has enough money to pay. The sly Musetta has the entire bill charged to Alcindoro. The sound of a military band is heard, and the friends leave. Alcindoro returns with the repaired shoe seeking Musetta. The waiter hands him the bill and, dumbfounded, Alcindoro sinks into a chair.
Act 3
At the toll gate at the Barrière d'Enfer (late February)
Peddlers pass through the barriers and enter the city. Mimì appears, coughing violently. She tries to find Marcello, who is currently living in a little tavern where he paints signs for the innkeeper. She tells him of her hard life with Rodolfo, who abandoned her the night before, and of Rodolfo's terrible jealousy (O buon Marcello, aiuto! – ‘Oh, good Marcello, help me!’). Marcello tells her that Rodolfo is asleep inside and expresses concern about Mimì's cough. Rodolfo wakes up and comes out looking for Marcello. Mimì hides and overhears Rodolfo first telling Marcello that he left Mimì because of her flirtatiousness, but finally confessing that his jealousy is a sham: he fears she is slowly being consumed by a deadly illness. Rodolfo, in his poverty, can do little to help Mimì and hopes that his pretended unkindness will inspire her to seek another, wealthier suitor (Marcello, finalmente - 'Marcello, finally’).
Out of kindness towards Mimì, Marcello tries to silence him, but she has already heard all. Her weeping and coughing reveal her presence, and Rodolfo hurries to her. Musetta's laughter is heard, and Marcello goes to find out what has happened. Mimì tells Rodolfo that she is leaving him and asks that they separate amicably (Mimì: Donde lieta uscì – ‘From here she happily left’); but their love for one another is too strong for the pair to part. As a compromise, they agree to remain together until the spring, when the world is coming to life again and no one feels truly alone. Meanwhile, Marcello has found Musetta, and the couple quarrel fiercely about Musetta's flirtatiousness: a counterpoint to the other pair's reconciliation (quartet: Mimì, Rodolfo, Musetta, Marcello: Addio dolce svegliare alla mattina! – ‘Goodbye, sweet awakening in the morning!’).
Act 4
Back in the garret (some months later)
Marcello and Rodolfo are trying to work, though they are primarily talking about their girlfriends, who have left them and found wealthy lovers. Rodolfo has seen Musetta in a fine carriage and Marcello has seen Mimì dressed like a queen. The men both express their nostalgia (duet: O Mimì, tu più non torni - 'O Mimì, will you not return?’). Schaunard and Colline arrive with a very frugal dinner and they parody eating a plentiful banquet, dance together and sing, before Schaunard and Colline engage in a mock duel.
Musetta suddenly appears; Mimì, who took up with a wealthy viscount after leaving Rodolfo in the spring, has left her patron. Musetta found her that day in the street, severely weakened by her illness, and Mimì begged Musetta to bring her to Rodolfo. Mimì, haggard and pale, is assisted onto a bed. Briefly, she feels as though she is recovering. Musetta and Marcello leave to sell Musetta's earrings to buy medicine, and Colline leaves to pawn his overcoat (Vecchia zimarra - 'Old coat’). Schaunard leaves with Colline to give Mimì and Rodolfo some time together. Mimì tells Rodolfo that her love for him is her whole life (aria/duet, Mimì and Rodolfo: Sono andati? – ‘Have they gone?’).
To Mimì's delight, Rodolfo presents her with the pink bonnet he bought her, which he has kept as a souvenir of their love. They remember past happiness and their first meeting - the candles, the lost key. Mimì is overwhelmed by a seizure of coughing. The others return, with a gift of a muff to warm Mimì's hands and a cordial to soothe her cough. Mimì gently thanks Rodolfo for the muff, which she believes is a present from him, reassures him that she is better, and falls asleep. Musetta prays. Schaunard discovers that Mimì has died. Rodolfo rushes to the bed, calling Mimì's name in anguish. He sobs helplessly as the curtain falls.
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