The shortened version of La Bohème was staged for the first time in Perugia: it lasts ninety minutes instead of two hours and forty minutes. The format is an idea of the tenor, Gianluca Terranova, who also plays the main male role of Rodolfo
ADVERTISING
Giacomo Puccini was 38 years old when the curtain rose for the first time on his Bohemian at the Teatro Regio in Turin in 1896. Since then, thanks to the talent of that “Millennial” of another time, it has remained a worldwide success. In the centenary of its author’s death, La Bohème is still an immortal masterpiece, which wants to continue to amaze and speak even to the youngest.
The Opera for TikTokers
They are the digital natives, the Gen Z kidsthe target of the new short version of La Bohème. The opera has been shortened by an hour to accommodate the reduced attention span of the TikTok generation.
The shortened version debuted on the scene in Morlacchi Theatre of Perugia with the Perugia Chamber Orchestra conducted by Maestro Enrico Bronzi: it lasts as long as a football match without extra time, just ninety minutes compared to the two hours and forty minutes of the four full acts. Less dead time, more rhythm.
To do the copy-paste of Puccini’s masterpiece is Gianluca Terranova, highly regarded tenor who has graced the boards of the greatest opera houses, from the Teatro alla Scala in Milan to Covent Garden in London. Terranova also performs the leading male role of Rodolfo. “A way to bring TikTok users closer to opera,” says Terranova.
“The cuts were made for the purposes of the narrative. The pieces that were ‘sacrificed’ are above all those where there is the chorus, because theShort version work must also be sustainable with costs – explains Terranova – we brought a story of the opera on stage, to entice an audience that is perhaps distracted. I’m thinking perhaps of young people who are on social media. So we can tell them: ‘Hey, guys, here we have something wonderful, that you absolutely must know'”.
The other device concerns the narration entrusted to one of the characters of La Bohème, Musetta, one of the female protagonists, who after thirty years – therefore as a fifty-year-old – remembers what she has experienced and tells us about it.
The controversy with the critics
In the centenary of Puccini’s death and less than a year from now recognition of opera singing as an intangible heritage of humanitythe Perugia experiment raises more than one criticism. “Puccini’s masterpiece is untouchable”, say the Opera purists.
“Puccini did not write the opera for purists, he wrote La Bohème to move everyone, the maid, the farmer and the pharmacist, and even those who perhaps do not go to see the Opera because they are bored and consider it too long.”
At the end of the 90 minutes, in a sold-out theatre, the short Bohème (directed by Gianluca Terranova, conducted by Giacomo Cossio, artistic installation by Sabrina Picci) grossed thunderous applause. Young people, and not only, enjoyed it. Puccini’s opera will be repeated on September 17 and 18 in the theaters of Orvieto and Todi.
The plot of La Bohème
La Bohème full version is an opera in four “acts” by Giacomo Puccini with a libretto by Giuseppe Giacosa and Luigi Illica. The story is inspired by the novel by Henri Murger Scenes from the life of Bohemia.
In an attic in the Latin Quarter of Paris, a group of young and penniless bohemian artists meet: the writer Rodolfo, the painter Marcello, the philosopher Colline and the musician Schaunard.
The love between the embroiderer Mimì and Rodolfo is the heart of the story, which rests on the universal narrative pillars of youthful passion and joy of living of friendship and lightheartedness, contrasted with the equally vivid themes of disillusionment and illness, according to the suggestions of romanticism that Puccini does not renounce. In the end Mimì dies of tuberculosis and with her also dies innocence and the idea of a life without worries.
How Opera Tells Its Story to Gen Z
The short version of La Bohème, which some critics have called “the opera for dummies”, is not the only way to bring opera back into play and introduce it to those who avoid it because it is foreign to the semantics of youth. One of the tricks is to bring history back to the present day.
What would the characters in the work be like if we met them in 2024? We read in a post published on the social pages of theVerona Arenaa cultural institution whose aim is the production and diffusion of musical culture.
In the production, designed by Alfonso Signorini, the events told in La Bohème – originally set in Paris in 1830 – take place “between shared attics, precarious employment and the fury of first love”.
ADVERTISING
“It is a work that speaks about young people and that must continue to speak to young people – we read further in the post – To tell it we borrowed the voice of Gen Z: four TikTok and Instagram talents reinterpret its protagonists through viral trends on social media. In the video Mimì is Zoe Massenti, actress, dancer and creator with 4 million followers on social media”.
Change the language and there are subtitles in the clips
And then the language also changes: the female protagonist of La Bohème, Mimì, “has a crush” on Rodolfo. ““He’s got swag””: it’s cool, says the influencer/actress Zoe Massenti in the short introductory video to the opera, strictly subtitled.
In a recent study by YouGov (a British international internet-based market research and data analysis company), 61% of viewers aged between 18 and 25 said that when they sit down to watch TV they choose to turn on subtitles, even if they have no hearing problems.
With the addition of more and more detailed subtitles to TV shows and movies, including sound effects and song names, viewers are including this option when tuning into their favorite show.
ADVERTISING
Opera still captivates millions of fans
According to the latest SIAE report, the world of live entertainment is growing. And, in the last year, opera has been able to count on 2.1 million viewers. The Arena di Verona Foundation, with its three-month Festival, constitutes almost 20% of the national total.
After three months and 50 nights of live shows, Verona has recorded the best box office everfor a total of 33 million 620 thousand euros. Attendance at the amphitheater has increased: spectators in the summer of 2024 were 417,354, a good 15 thousand more than last year, of which 57% from 136 countries around the world. Germany remains on the podium, spectators from the United States, Canada, Spain and Korea are increasing. Young people are increasing (+3% under 30, +5% 30-40 age group).
For the first time, the Verona Arena has also landed on TikTok, involving the very young audience. On social media, users in the 25-34 age group equal the over 35s. At the end of the Festival, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok channels reached almost 59 million contacts+26% compared to last year. Followers from all over the world, especially from Germany, Brazil, the United States and Argentina.
ADVERTISING
