Getting ready with Dr. Nic last week for a TV interview he came up with five tidbits about La boheme to be used on air. Live TV being what live TV is, not all of them made it onto the show, but I thought they were interesting enough to be recycled here on the blog. Besides, I'm busy hammering away at the 2011 press release so pressed for time today. 2011 press release you say? You betcha. But, faithful readers, here's a tidbit: a certain married couple returns to us next season in another opera by Gounod. Without further ado, five things about La boheme you'll be glad to know 1) Giacomo Puccini’s opera La boheme is one of the three most popular operas ever written but it wasn ’t always that way. It was not an immediate success. An opera by a rival Italian composer, Ruggiero Leoncavallo, on the same subject (and also named Le bohème ) premiered about a year after Puccini’s and was quite successful. It’s possible that, in fact, Puccini actually stole the idea
Comments
Here's an interesting report from the Washington Post that looks at new operas and smaller venues- it's really a fascinating look at where the world of opera is headed and how smaller companies are better suited to handle the risks of trying something new.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/06/24/AR2010062406932.html?sid=ST2010062502838
And congrat on the new blog duties at LJMS. Looking forward to the dialogue!
http://www.ljms.org/BLOG.html