The Premiere of the Opera La Bohème Will Be Held at the Astana Opera

There are only the legendary names in the playbill: Music Director and Conductor – Giuseppe Acquaviva, Stage Director – Andrea Bernard, Set Designer – Ezio Frigerio, Costume Designer – the Academy Award winner Franca Squarciapino, Projections Designer – Sergio Metalli, Principal Choirmaster – Honoured Worker of Kazakhstan Yerzhan Dautov.

The composer based the plot of the opera on the popular French novel by Henri MurgerScènes de la Vie de Bohème. Puccini wrote the music to La Bohème in eight months. The world premiere took place on February 1, 1896 in Turin, conducted by 28-year-old Arturo Toscanini. Soon, La Bohème has enraptured audiences across the world.

“La Bohème is a lyrical opera, one of the most frequently performed in opera houses, and I poured all my passion into this production. I am convinced that this will be a successful project for our opera house,” outstanding contemporary Italian set designer Ezio Frigerio said.

A new scenic version of this opera will be offered to the audience. Thanks to the latest modern theatrical technologies, the opera will be adapted to the technological capabilities of the stage, and all the daring ideas of the production team will be implemented.

“This is my first time staging La Bohème and it is also my Puccini debut, so I will try to stage my own vision of this wonderful opera. Ideas come to mind when I listen to the music and read the libretto. I always strive to understand the psychology of the characters in order to show them onstage in the best possible way. I am trying to create poetical images and stories that can excite the audience. For me, it is important to always tell the audience something new to give them the opportunity to leave the theatre with an experience that has enriched them,” the director Andrea Bernard shared.

He also added that he has decided to set the story in the early 1900s, when Paris was a city with a great cultural, industrial and architectural ferment.

“These were the years right after the Universal Exhibition that put Paris at the centre of international attention. In those years, cinema was born, photography developed and impressionist art was at its height. I thought that it might be the right context to tell the story of these young bohemians,” the director concluded.

The premiere will feature the Astana Opera’s Principal Soloists, Symphony Orchestra and Choir.

The performances will begin at 18:00.