Arena di Verona celebrates Puccini with a new performance of La Bohème Directed by Alfonso Signorini

La Bohème returns to the Arena di Verona Amphitheatre for the first time since 2011 for two unmissable evening performances on 19 and 27 July. As part of the 101st Opera Festival, a new production of Giacomo Puccini’s masterpiece will debut to mark the centenary of the his death. Henri Murger’s novel Scenes of Bohemian Life, immortalised in this work, recounts the dreams, friendships, loves, sadness and growth of six penniless young people; small yet very human everyday stories made great and unforgettable by Puccini’s music and his enduring, timely theatrical instincts.

Telling the story to the Arena’s spectators, following Illica and Giacosa’s libretto to a tee, is Alfonso Signorini, a journalist, TV presenter and lover and proponent of music who, having grown as an opera director for several years, makes his Verona debut here. The new production by Fondazione Arena di Verona includes expert set designer Guillermo Nova, whose sets are faithful to the era and constructed with transparent materials to show the viewers various scenarios in the individual characters’ day-to-day lives, even before the fatal encounters that will mark their lives forever take place. Boasting the same attention to detail are the costumes, coordinated by Arena stalwart Silvia Bonetti, with historical silhouettes that—per directing instructions—hark back to 1860-1890s France. 

Directing the Fondazione Arena Orchestra and Choir are Daniel Oren and Roberto Gabbiani respectively, bringing Puccini's brilliant, refined score—the perfect mix of sentiment, humour and energy, featuring some of the most beautiful melodies and most famous and beloved arias ever written—to life. This, Maestro Oren’s first show of the season, also coincides with the 40th anniversary of his Arena debut in 1984 (with Tosca, another Puccini opera), followed with love by some 550 more evenings on the podium.

Taking to the stage is a cast of established opera stars and young talents making their Arena debut: tenor Vittorio Grigolo plays poet Rodolfo and baritone Luca Micheletti plays his painter friend Marcello, who love Mimì, played by Armenian soprano Juliana Grigoryan, and Musetta, played by Eleonora Bellocci, respectively. This is the first time performing at the festival for both Grigoryan and Bellocci. Sharing an attic in Paris with Rodolfo and Marcello are friends Colline, a philosopher played by Alexander Vinogradov, and Schaunard, a musician played by Fabio Previati; accompanying these in supporting roles are soloists such as Nicolò Ceriani (Benoit), Salvatore Salvaggio (Alcindoro) and Riccardo Rados (Parpignol). In addition to the plethora of mimes and extras bringing Paris’ Latin Quarter to life, the youngsters of the Coro di voci bianche A.LI.VE. choir, directed by Paolo Facincani, are also involved.

An ode to art and timeless love, La Bohème’s bond with young people is apparent right from the opening gong: for the first performance on 19 July, the traditional pre-opera rite will be entrusted to three young artists who have accepted the ‘challenge’ of sharing opera with their peers through a social-media project in which Fondazione Arena teamed up with Italian weekly magazine Chi. After drumming up interest among followers by recounting the characters and dreams of Rodolfo, Mimì, Marcello and Musetta, registering more than 1 million views in just a few hours, Samuele Segreto, Zoe Massenti, Antonio Orefice and Jasmin Zangarelli are poised to bang the gong at the Arena.

Puccini's masterpiece was first performed in 1896, conducted by 28-year-old Arturo Toscanini following a lengthy three-year development. This period was also marred by a quarrel with Ruggero Leoncavallo, writer of the famous opera Pagliacci, who was creating his own musical version of Murger’s novel at the time. Of genuine interest are the work’s parallels with the writer’s own life: Puccini condensed the very best of his flair for melody, orchestral skill and impeccable understanding of theatre into the work, driven by memories of difficult years spent studying in Milan, during which dreams, hopes, disappointments and difficulties were shared by his roommate Mascagni, another successful future composer. The success of Puccini's work unequivocally overshadowed that of his contemporary and, from its premiere in Turin onwards, La Bohème continued to take to stages worldwide, as well as being adapted on film. At the Arena, it is the eleventh most performed work, with 78 iterations between 1938 and 2011 featuring some of history’s most important artists: Di Stefano, Tebaldi, Lugo, Scotto, Bastianini, Pavarotti, Vinco, La Scola, Cedolins and Alvarez.

Following the sold-out performances of Turandot in June, this special project centred on La Bohème celebrates Puccini on the centenary of his death; a tribute accompanied by a star-studded performance of Tosca in August and further performances of the Lucchese master’s lesser-known titles, currently in progress at the Philharmonic Theatre.

"Puccini is such a great, beloved figure in the world that he doesn’t even need celebrating”, says Cecilia Gasdia, General Manager of Fondazione Arena di Verona, “but we used the centenary as an opportunity to bring a title that hasn’t been performed for 13 years back to the Arena. La Bohème is a timeless masterpiece in which the theme of friendship and other emotions just burst off the stage. The formula behind this special project, spanning two evening performances, is one we’d like to repeat in the future to expand the Arena’s repertoire with works performed either less frequently or never before at the Arena. I hope the audience enjoys this wonderful cast, full of young artists and newcomers, and the production carefully curated down to the finest details by Alfonso Signorini and Daniel Oren".

"In Verona, we continue to celebrate the brilliance of Giacomo Puccini”, says Councillor for Culture of the Municipality of Verona, Marta Ugolini, offering greetings on behalf of Fondazione Arena’s Mayor and President, Damiano Tommasi. “For months, our city has been paying tribute to the composer on the centenary of his death, with shows including La Rondine at the Philharmonic Theatre, an extraordinary concert in March and the first sold-out performance of Turandot. We can’t wait to see this new production of La Bohème, a work in which Puccini speaks straight to the heart, connecting with young people thanks, in large part, to an exceptional cast".

"Puccini was so thorough in his score that it’s impossible to escape”, adds Maestro Daniel Oren, conductor of the production. “There's a freshness, intimacy and truth to this work. Youth is the fire at the heart of Puccini's opera, the secret that brings it to life. You hear it in every note. It’s what makes it so timeless and poignant for people of every age. The Arena Orchestra and all its artists are putting so much love into it, taking us to incredible heights. I’m delighted to be returning and working with Alfonso again, a highly cultured man who cherishes the voices and reveres the writer of the music. It’s going to be a wonderful version of La Bohème".

"La Bohème is a collective opera: the star is life itself, depicted on stage by ensemble scenes”, says director Alfonso Signorini, visibly excited. “Puccini left nothing to chance and we chose to respect that in terms of the era in which the scenes are set, the costumes and the spirit of this collective work, to which everyone on stage and behind the scenes brought the utmost commitment and passion. The setup is very respectful of tradition. Opera doesn’t need any alterations, least of all La Bohème: within this transparent structure, the world of the 19th century is depicted in meticulous detail, with various scenes from everyday life running parallel, inspired by daguerreotype images and literature from the era itself. While there are subtle nods to the modern day in the performances, they stay true to Puccini and the novel by Murger on which the opera is based".

Signorini concluded by thanking the Fondazione Arena with a personal anecdote: "One day, in Rome, Franco Zeffirelli told me about the great nostalgia he felt for the Arena. He’d just returned from one of the versions of Carmen he was involved in. I asked him why he felt this way and he replied that I couldn’t understand. Now I do. The Arena is an experience of a lifetime. Here, I found the utmost professionalism, tremendous generosity and a real sense of family. These are heartwarming emotions that you don’t always experience. I’m deeply grateful to Fondazione Arena and to every worker involved: we’re all working for Puccini".

During the press conference, William Orlandi, the internationally recognised set and costume designer, who also worked in Verona for a number of years and was the set designer for the last Arena production of La Bohème, was remembered following his passing last week.

La Bohème will be performed on Friday 19 and Saturday 27 July, at 9.15 pm. Tickets are available from 24 Euro.