La Bohème

Teatro dell'Opera di Roma

Resumption of the show staged in September 2017 and then again between December 2019 and January 2020, applauded by both critics and the public, one of the most beloved works of the Italian repertoire returns to the stage of the Maggio: La bohème, the masterpiece by Giacomo Puccini, with the libretto by Giuseppe Giacosa and Luigi Illica, inspired by the novel by Henri Murger Scènes de la vie de bohème.

La bohème

Maggio Musicale Fiorentino Theatre

EPSG:4326

Carmen

Teatro La Fenice

Particularly intriguing is the diptych, presented at the Teatro Goldoni, composed of The Telephone by Gian Carlo Menotti and – staged for the very first time now in Venice – Trouble in Tahiti by Leonard Bernstein: two single acts, which satirise certain recurring quirks in American society around the middle of the twentieth century. The hilarious The Telephone ridicules one of the small vices of the time: telephonic prolixity. The absolute protagonist is Lucy who communicates, over the phone, with Margaret – singing neoclassical arias à la Stravinsky – or with Pamela – singing to the rhythm of a polytonal waltz – or with Ben – accompanied by a ‘romantic’ clarinet. Lucy’s melodic élan is accompanied by an extensively lively orchestra in a largely tonal context. In Trouble in Tahiti, his ‘operatic debut’, a young Bernstein offers a gloomy and disturbing picture of society and, at the same time, of his family, with hints of almost self-punishing sarcasm. Through the marital crisis of a well-to-do bourgeois couple, Dinah and Sam – who represent the musician’s parents – Bernstein not only publicly shames the post-war, consumerist and elitist American society, but the American Dream itself. In this short but rather ‘dark’ musical – where a vocal jazz trio comments on the vicissitudes of the two protagonists – the great Lenny stands out with the refined eclecticism of his language – which sees the Tahiti rumba side-by-side with American swing – foreshadowing masterpieces, such as Candide and West Side Story.

Elisa Balbo

Events

Upcoming events

May 24 - Jun 3, 2026

Carmen · Teatro La Fenice

9 - 14 Oct, 2026

The telephone & Trouble in Tahiti · Teatro La Fenice

Past events

13 - 25 Jan, 2026

La Bohème · Teatro dell'Opera di Roma

Dec 20, 2025 - Jan 4, 2026

La bohème · Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino

Future and recently performed repertoire

Lucy in Trouble in Tahiti by Bernstein

Teatro La Fenice

Musetta in La bohème by Puccini

Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino

Micaëla in Carmen by Bizet

Teatro La Fenice

Lucy in The Telephone by Menotti

Teatro La Fenice

About

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