Puccini's "La Bohème" returns to the Met in Franco Zeffirelli's beloved production starring Met debutante Maria Agresta and Ramon Vargas. Ana Maria Martinez and Ailyn Perez also star in the opera.

The Music

The music of "La Boheme" is very popular around the world and has prompted many adaptations including the Broadway show "Rent." "La Bohème" has also been staged for Broadway by Baz Luhrmann and won two Tony awards.

The opera has some of the most infectious melodies including the duet "O Soave Fanciulla," the arias "Sì, mi chiamano Mimì," "Che gelida manina" and the act three quartet. Most of the music for the work is lyrical and it exerts an immediate emotional pull. The melodies are built incrementally, with small intervals between the notes that carry the listener with them on their lyrical path. Described as an opera with no plot, "La Bohème's" melodic structure perfectly captures the "small people" of the drama and the details of everyday life.

The History

The very first performances of the "La Bohème" were on tour in Los Angeles in 1900. The performances were some of the most memorable because at the conclusion of Act IV, soprano Nelli Melba -- following her onstage death as Mimì -- reappeared in front of the curtain to sing the mad scene from Donizetti's "Lucia di Lammermoor." The opera was later performed at the house in the same year with Melba.

Since then many great sopranos have taken on the role including Geraldine Farrar, Lucrezia Bori, Bidú Sayao, Licia Albanese, Hilde Güden, Lucine Amara, Mirella Freni in her Met debut, Teresa Stratas, Gabriella Tucci and Renata Tebaldi.

Among the most notable Rodolfo's include Giovanni Martinelli, Enrico Caruso, Beniamino Gigli, Jussi Björling in his Met debut, Jan Peerce, Nicolai Gedda, Richard Tucker, Giuseppe di Stefano and Carlo Bergonzi,

Robert Merrill, Ettore Bastianini and Ingvar Wixell are among the most famous Marcello's to have sung the role at the Met.

One of the most important performances of the work came in 1977 when James Levine conducted Renata Scotto and Luciano Pavarotti. The opera was the first of the series Live from the Met that would be broadcast on television.

The work is the most performed opera on the Met stage and has appeared 1,274 times on the stage.

The Production

The current production by Franco Zeffirelli premiered at the Met in 1981 with Jose Carreras, Teresa Stratas and Renata Scotto and has become one of the most beloved productions at the Met. Its opulent and realistic sets distinguish it from many of the Zeffirelli productions produced for the company. Since its premiere, it has only missed two seasons as it is also a crowd pleaser that sells most of the house.

The production has been sung by many great sopranos in the roles of Musetta and Mimi including Angela Gheorghiu in her Met debut in 1994, Leona Mitchell, Catherine Malfitano, Hei-Kyung Hong, Gabriela Benacková, Karita Mattila, Ruth Ann Swenson, and Patricia Racette.

Among the many tenors who have taken on the role of Rodolfo in this production are Placido Domingo, Richard Leech, Joseph Calleja, Marcelo Alvarez, Piotr Beczala and Vargas.

More recently, Anna Netrebko and Rolando Villazon performed the work in a one-performance sold-out show that was conducted by Domingo.

Gheorghiu and Vargas performed the work in a run that was live in HD and Kristine Opolais performed the role alongside Vittorio Grigolo for the live in HD series.

The Performers

This season, Agresta will make her Metropolitan Opera debut in the leading role of Mimi. The soprano has sung all over the world including Milan, Salzburg, Zurich, Munich and Paris. Agresta is one of the most sought after singers as her repertoire is extensive including works from Verdi, Bellini and Puccini. She has sung "La Bohème" in Modena, Bergamo, and Venice.

Acclaimed soprano Barbara Frittoli will also take on the role Mimi, a role she has performed around the world and has become one of her staples. The Italian singer first performed the role at the Met in 1995 and returned to it in 2015. Frittoli also performed Mimi with the during its Japanese Tour back in 2011. 

Veteran soprano Hei-Kyung Hong will return to her celebrated Mimi alternating with Agresta.

In the role of Musetta, three distinct and acclaimed sopranos will return to the Met. Ten years after her Met debut, Ana Maria Martinez returns. The Puerto Rican soprano, herself a renowned Mimi, is respected around the world and has sung in Munich, London, Los Angeles, Chicago and Vienna.

Ailyn Perez is back after her triumphant Met debut last year. The soprano, who has also become recognized for her Mimi, performs her first Musetta's. Perez has the distinction of being the first Latin American to win the Richard Tucker award and now performs around the world in Hamburg, Munich, Milan and London.

Susanna Phillips has become the most sought after performers of Musetta having sung the role at the Met over the past four seasons.

In the role of Rodolfo, golden-voiced tenor Vargas reprises his acclaimed interpretation. The tenor has previously sung the role a number of times including the aforementioned run with Angela Gheorghiu, which was recorded live in HD.

Bryan Hymel also reprises his interpretation, which he sang last season and alternates with another returning Rodolfo, Jean Francois Borras.

Levente Molnar makes his Met debut as Marcello alternating with Quinn Kelsey while Alexey Lavrov, David Pershall and Alessio Arduini alternate Schaunard.

Christian Van Horn, Kihwan Sim and Roberto Tagliavini alternate the role of Colline.

Met veteran John Del Carlo sings Alcindoro and Benoit.

Italian conductor Paolo Carignani and Israeli conductor Dan Ettinger conduct the 17 performances of the run.