In Puccini's La Boheme, Gustave Colline is a bookish, destitute, young philosopher. He lives in Paris with three other Bohemians: Rodolfo, a poet, Marcello, a painter, and Schaunard, a musician. In Act IV, Colline decides to pawn his beloved (and only) overcoat to obtain money to pay for medicine for Rodolfo's girlfriend, the dying Mimi. Before leaving for the pawnshop, Colline bids his coat a fond “addio” (farewell) in this.celebrated aria.

"Vecchia Zimarra" is also sometimes referred to as "The Coat Song."

The drawing near the end of the video depicts a Paris street. I t was part of the set design for Act II of La Bohème for the world premiere performance, at the TeatroRegio di Torino, on February 1, 1896. Arturo Toscanini conducted.

"Vecchia Zimarra" has been recorded by many of the great basses, including Ezio Pinza, Cesare Siepi, Feodor Chaliapin, and Boris Christoff. Marc Berman is the soloist on this video.

Interestingly, because the aria has no real low notes, it has also been recorded by several tenors, including Mario Del Monaco, Enrico Caruso and, as part of a master class, Luciano Pavarotti.

The photos in the video were taken on the set of La Bohème at the Amato Opera in New York.

Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924) composed some of the best-loved operas and most popular operas of all time. For example, Manon Lescaut, Tosca, Madama Butterfly and Turandot. Included in those operas were many of the greatest arias and most popular arias ever written.

Interestingly, unlike his predecessor Giuseppe Verdi, Puccini did not compose many arias for the lower voices. Indeed, Colline's aria in La Boheme is the only bass aria in any of the composer's major operatic works.

The libretto of La Bohème was written by Giuseppe Giacosa (1847-1906) and Luigi Illica (1857-1919), who worked with Puccini on other operas too.

La Bohème remains one of the most popular operas in the reparatory of Italian operas. Nonetheless, it was not a runaway hit at its inception. In fact, many of the initial reviews were not positive.

Over time, though, this favorite opera won over the wider public and is now an operatic staple. It is on so many people's lists of best operas.

The melancholy orchestral theme at the end of "Vecchia Zimarra" was also used by Puccini at the conclusion of the opera.

La Boheme is based on the 1851 book by Henri Murger, "La Vie de Bohème." Nonetheless, Puccini's own life reputedly inspired elements of the opera's plot. As a young man, he experienced poverty similar to that of the bohemians of La Bohème. Like Coline, the young Puccini sometimes had to pawn his possessions to cover living expenses.

La Bohème's appearance in 1896 caused an ugly rift between Puccini and Ruggiero Leoncavallo, composer of Pagliacci. In early 1893, the two composers discovered that they were both working on versions of La Bohème . Leoncavallo started his work first, but Puccini claimed that he started his own project without having any knowledge of his rival's intentions. Leoncavallo's La Bohème, while not without its merits, has long since faded into oblivion.

On the other hand, Puccini's Bohème , like the youthful Bohemians who inhabit its world, remains eternally fresh, popular, and young.

свернуть