La Bohme

In the Latin Quarter of Paris, a group of bohemians—a poet, painter, philosopher, and musician—share a cramped garret apartment. On Christmas Eve, the impoverished poet Rodolfo meets Mimì, a seamstress from the floor below, when she comes seeking a light for her candle. Their chance encounter ignites an immediate and passionate romance. As winter deepens, Rodolfo and Mimì's love flourishes amid the carefree revelry of their bohemian circle, yet their joy is shadowed by Mimì's persistent cough and fragile health. The opera traces the arc of their tender devotion through moments of youthful exuberance and deepening intimacy, even as circumstances and misunderstandings threaten to pull them apart. Puccini's masterpiece captures the bittersweet beauty of love blooming in poverty, where passion burns brightest against the backdrop of hardship and mortality.