Poor Mimi literally works herself to death to support Rodolfo's career, staying up all night to support the household with her embroidery so her genius boyfriend can write. Characters in the film pawn their belongings in depressingly packed shops.
Rodolfo's jealousy provokes him to strike Mimi on occasion. It's hard to imagine Puccini's La Bohème reaching such heights of popularity with the baggage of Vidor's film. Vidor, interestingly enough, was born in Galveston and saw his first film, A Trip to the Moon, at the 1894 Opera House, according to HGO dramaturg Mena Mark Hanna, who introduced Li's performance. Happily the other night, Joseph Li of Rice University's Shepherd School of Music brought Puccini's heavenly music to the world of film when he gave a stirring performance of a piano arrangement of Puccini's score alongside Vidor's much-altered and unintentionally funny but jarringly brutal version.
Can an opera be so good you'd perform it without its music?
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