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Bohemios |
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This material is © Christopher Webber,
Blackheath, London, UK. Last updated February 7th
2002
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Bohemios
by Amadeo Vives
libretto by Guillermo Perrín and
Miguel de Palacios
®
recommended
recording
Based, like the operas of Puccini (1896) and
Leoncavallo (1897) on Henri Murger's Scènes de la vie
de Bohème, Bohemios belongs to the tradition of the short,
one-act género chico. It was premiered at the Teatro de la
Zarzuela on March 24th, 1904. The librettists, who always wrote in
collaboration, had previously written the revistas (revues) Certamen
nacional and Cuadros disolventes for Nieto, and were to
triumph a few years later with the outrageous Aida-parody of
La corte de Faraón for
Lleo. This was the first of many gentler
texts they provided for Vives, and it proved to be his greatest success to
date.
Bohemios is a romantic vignette which does not
attempt to emulate the scope of Puccini's masterpiece, but its air of youthful
sweetness and high spirits have ensured its lasting popularity. French rather
than Italian influences are apparent on the score, which nevertheless shows
Vives' growing individuality. His technique owed more to French opera than to
operette, and the most immediately impressive feature of Bohemios
is its composer's ability to build more complex units than was usual in
género chico zarzuela. |
 The
first Roberto (Carlos Allen-Perkins) and Victor (Antonio
González) |
Lovely Romanzas and Dúos there are, but they
emerge from a symphonic rather than a spoken dialogue. Vives is never less than
suavely tuneful, closer to Massenet than Chapí or Chueca; but in at least two numbers - the
famous Coro de bohemios and Intermedio - Parisian elegance gives
way to a passionate vitality which is very distinctively Spanish in
feeling.
The setting
is Paris in 1840. Scene 1 - an artist's garret, through which the snowy
rooftops of the city are visible. The young composer Roberto Randel is at
the piano, working on a fragment of a romantic opera which he is writing with
his friend Victor, and which is to become the leitmotif of the zarzuela
(Romanza y Dúo: "Mudos testigos de mis amores".) The
librettist joins his friend at the piano, but they are soon disturbed by the
voice of their neighbour's daughter, Cossette, outside in the street
(Canción: "La mariposa, de rosa en rosa".) Roberto
complains that she is always singing his songs out loud, which stops him
working. Victor tells him not to mind too much, as she has a pleasant voice and
is exceedingly pretty. Marcelo, Cossette's father, joins them. He asks to
borrow Roberto's coat - the only one they have between them - so he can
accompany his daughter in the open audition that evening at the
Opéra-Comique. If Cossette is successful, it will put the whole
family on a sounder financial footing. All three leave for the Bola de Oro
Café, hoping to wangle a meal without paying, and leaving their key
with the caretaker Pelagia.
Cossette puts her head round the door to check that Roberto is
out, and joins Pelagia, who has stayed to tidy up (Dúo: "La
niña de ojos azules".) The older woman teases her - why be so
backward in coming forward? Cossette responds by admitting that though she does
indeed yearn for Roberto, she must put her musical ambitions first. After that,
there will be time for love (Romanza: "Si es amor el sentir".)
While Pelagia goes to fetch wood for the stove, Cossette purloins Roberto's
score, intending to sing it at the audition that evening. Another neighbour,
Girard, who is forever promising to help everyone, appears. True to form, he
says he will help her clinch the job that evening, and the two of them leave an
invitation for Roberto on the keyboard. After they leave two shopgirls, Juana
and Cecilia, come in and leave a badly-spelled note for Roberto, asking him to
dine with them at their friend Mimi's. When he returns he discovers both notes,
deciding to have dinner with Mimi before going on to the
Opéra-Comique.
Scene 2. A
square in the Quartier Latin, close to the Bola de Oro and a
dancehall. Couples are heading for the dance, and the sound of a delicate
waltz drifts through the night air. Victor emerges from the café having
been unable to get free food out of the landlord. He tries to flirt with
Cossette, who comes looking for her father in the restaurant before going off
to sing, but she ignores him (Escena: "La noche misteriosa".)
Temporarily dashed, he lurks in the background when a party of his friends
burst in. They sing the intense Coro de Bohemios: "En la luz del sol
que enciende" in praise of passion and the bohemian way of life. Victor
sees the two shopgirls heading for the dance and tries his luck with them, but
the well-heeled Girard whisks them off for drinks in the café. Finally
Victor admits defeat, and meeting Marcelo goes off with him to get a meal.
Cossette, coming out of the restaurant, nearly runs into Roberto,
who is in high spirits after his dinner with Mimi. She hides to avoid him, but
becomes furious when she sees him chatting up the shopgirls when they reappear
from the café (Cuarteto: "¡Qué alegre es el
cielo!".) Taking her courage in both hands she calls to him, and he
immediately diverts his attention to the pretty newcomer. The two girls leave,
with pert curtseys to their successful rival, and a romantic scene ensues
(Dúo:"¿por qué vuestros labios?".) When
Roberto asks for her name Cossette tells him, but she is torn between accepting
his amorous overtures and thoughts of her career. He leaves her, and the scene
ends with Cossette, Girard and Marcelo heading off for the
Opéra-Comique, together with the luckless and still unfed Victor. The
celebrated intermezzo (Intermedio) leads into the last scene.
Scene 3. A
lavish party in the artists' salon of the Opéra-Comique. Girard is
telling Victor that his libretto is too good for Roberto, and should be sent to
someone important like Auber, whom he says he knows. Victor heads off to
buttonhole the famous composer. Girard reassures Cossette and Marcelo that all
will be well, and then tells Roberto that his music is too good for Victor's
text - he should be setting someone of the quality of his good friend, Scribe.
Roberto goes off to find the famous librettist. Having both been mercilessly
snubbed, the young collaborators are furious to discover that Girard has been
lying to them. Girard tries to save face by introducing them to one another,
and leaves hastily to prepare Cossette for her appearance. Marcelo tells her
that she needn't be nervous, as her own father is going to accompany her.
Girard, pretending amidst general bafflement to be Cossette's rich
patron, prepares the audience for the appearance of the young singer. Marcelo
sits down at the piano but says he is too nervous to read from the score, and
Cossette asks for Roberto to accompany her. When he sees his own music on the
stand, the composer understands everything. He gladly accepts, and Roberto and
Cossette perform the duet from the new opera (Dúo: "Por fin
llegaste") to the enraptured audience. The zarzuela ends in a romantic
glow, as fame and fortune beckon to all the young bohemians - even the
penniless librettist Victor.
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