The Agony of Invention: The Arduous Creation and Final Triumph of La bohème, a lecture by Professor Gabriele Dotto
Italian Cultural Institute of Chicago
Thursday, January 17, 2019 from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM
To hear La bohème for the first or for the hundredth time, one is struck by its dramatic cohesion and the wonderful unity of its construction. The listener is almost tempted to imagine the composer writing under the feverish spell of an unbroken flow of inspiration. Yet the composition of La bohème was a laborious affair, involving innumerable changes of mind and revisions that nearly drove Puccini’s librettists (and his publisher) to distraction. The premiere, conducted by Toscanini, was beautifully prepared and executed, but the local critics were unimpressed: one went so far as to claim that “This opera won’t leave much of a trace in the history of lyric opera.” Was a more inaccurate prediction ever uttered? One hundred twenty-two years later, La bohème remains one of the most enduringly popular masterpieces of the operatic stage. This talk will explore the fascinating genesis of this beloved work.
Professor Gabriele Dotto is General Editor of the critical edition of the Operas of Giacomo Puccini and Direttore scientifico of the Ricordi Historical Archive of Milan.
RSVP at https://laboheme2019.eventbrite.com
Presented on the occasion of Lyric Opera of Chicago’s production of La bohème by Giacomo Puccini, January 10-31, 2019