Puccini and the Bohemian Life

I accidentally posted this as a comment to a comment. Ha! So much to learn about this blog thing. But here it is again, where it belongs:

Last night Rajan and I went to the opera -- La Boheme -- and I must say, the Sacramento Opera Company gets better and better. Luscious voices, evenly distributed across the cast, and wonderful acting that brought the story to life. I've always liked Puccini, and La Boheme is one of my favorites. I've always liked the arias and the sad love story, but this time I saw the story from a different level. Like the title, it's about the bohemian life. Four starving students, a poet, a painter, a musician, a philosopher, all making do on hopes and dreams, and passing affairs, barely able to eke out money for food. And then, the poet falls deeply in love and Life happens; Mimi has a fatal illnes; there's nothing the poet can do; nothing his friends can do. They are all broke, after all, and living conditions only aggravate the illness. The reality (and poignancy) of the bohemian life. It was like seeing the story behind the story.