Act 1 of La Boheme

Giacomo Puccini's "La Boheme" has been characterized by V.S. Pritchett (1983) as a Paris Latin Quarter-based opera in which a frustrated relationship between the beautiful but frail Mimi and the handsome Rodolfo ends in tragedy with Mimi's death and Rodolfo's anguish. Pritchett (1983) notes that this circa-1830 opera explores the vulnerability of bohemians and marginal workers such as Mimi, while also examining the ease with which even deeply beloved women are abandoned when they no longer can be cared for by their lovers. At issue in this analysis is a discussion of the role played by one of the most significant arias written for the character of Mimi by Puccini, examining its poetic and dramatic qualities and its place within the development of plot and characterization within the opera.

The aria occurs in Act I shortly after Mimi, a seamstress who makes artificial flowers, has met her neighbor, Rodolfo. Titled "Mi Chiamano Mimi," this brief lyric aria introduces Mimi (whose name is actually Lucia) to Rodolfo. Her story, she says, is "a short one. In my little room I embroider silk and satin. I am content and happy. I love to fashion the rose and the lily" (John, 1982, p. 66). The association of Mimi with these beautiful flowers that "speak to me of love, of lovely springtime" is affirmed (John, 1982, p. 66).

The listener also learns that Mimi does not know why this has been her name but she is always alone having a frugal supper, going to mass "but seldo

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enton, 2008, p. 3). This coldness continues and ultimately manifests itself in Act III, set at the Barriere D'Enfer, one of the gates into Paris. Mimi explains to Rodolfo's friend Marcello that he is jealous and quarrelsome, but then Rodolfo reveals that Mimi is ill and is dying and that his guilt is so great that he turns on her and verbally abuses her. This leads to Mimi's departure from Rodolfo. She leaves him and ultimately returns to him to die. Their last duet contains music recalling Mimi's first aria and is "fragile" with empty scoring (Lenton, 2008). The music that is present in "Mi Chiamano Mimi" accompanies Mimi's entrance later in Act III. This technique of associating music with characters incorporates timbral as well as thematic elements. For example, "the magical, sustained, string instrumentation for the second-inversion D Major triad that announces Mimi's entrance in Act I is also the principal color in the orchestral accompaniment of her signature aria" (Sibelius Music, 2008). The depiction of daybreak that opens Act III and accompanies Mimi's entrance is emphasized by flutes in parallel fifths that peck out a modal melody that is punctuated at phrase ends by subtle, sustained upper strings over tr

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