Opera San Jose – La Bohème

La Bohème had its opening night at the San Jose Opera House on April 23.

Many people came dressed to impress as the sophisticated night at the Opera began. This classic opera written by Giacomo Puccini has been remade and performed all over the world. The San Jose Opera presented this world renown classic in its truest form, sung fully in Italian with English subtitles displayed at the top of the theater for the audience and observers.

For those who are not familiar with this timeless classic, La Bohème is a romantic story that demonstrates the support and care of friendship and loyalty in hardship. It shows the lives of young Parisian bohemians in the tale of love, in the midst of illness and poverty.

The opening night of the opera was an exciting experience, not only for the audience, but also for the actors, singers, and musicians that had prepared for long hours in order to put on what can truly be described as moving and beautiful production.

The musicians, led by conductor David Rohrbaugh, began to softly play as the audience took their seats.

Since the opera was sung (beautifully) in Italian, we marveled at the vocal melodies as  we followed the story in English each step of the way. The voices and interactions of the actors were so amazing that often times I found myself not paying any attention to the subtitles, while being simply enamored by what was going on on the stage. The talent of each performer was incredible, their soothing yet powerful operatic voices left the audience in awe.

The symphony, which was positioned directly below the stage, played in perfect unison as they set the ambiance of emotion and passion that was portrayed vividly by the actors.

La Bohème displayed a variety of fast exciting scenes with crowds dancing and celebrating, as well as sad and emotional scenes that left the audience close to tears.

The night at the opera was an experience to remember, and must be seen and experienced to truly be understood.

We look forward to all the things that Opera San Jose has to offer this upcoming season – but there is no need to wait till then!  La Bohème will be showing till May 8th, so make sure to purchase your tickets today and partake in a night of memories not soon to be forgotten.

http://www.operasj.org/boheme.html