La Boheme Opera Guide and Libretto (English and Italian Edition)

This volume contains everything the opera-goer needs to derive full satisfaction from "La Boheme" except the musical score itself. Most important, it provides the complete text of the Italian libretto, just as it is actually sung; that is, where the singer repeats a phrase several times, each of the repetitions is given here. And facing the Italian text is a completely new, close translation of the libretto into modern, idiomatic English. In addition to the libretto and English translation, this edition offers a 10-page biography of the composer; shorter biographies of the two librettists, Illica and Giacosa, and Puccini's friend and the publisher of his music, Guilio Ricordi; notes on other musical and non-musical adaptations of Murger's novel besides Puccini's; an account of early performances and critical reactions; a careful, concise summary of the plot; a discussion of Puccini's use of leit-motifs, followed by several musical excerpts giving the themes that recur most frequently throughout the opera; and a pictorial section of 63 illustrations depicting Puccini and people closely associated with him, famous performers in roles from "La Boheme," stage settings in various productions of the opera, interiors and exteriors of opera houses that have figures prominently in the history of "La Boheme," and sketches by Enrico Caruso caricaturing himself and his contemporaries in roles from "La Boheme." --- excerpt from book's back cover