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Show ! i if f ' "LA BOHEME. II J I 1 1 , The libretto of Puccini's unrivaled and quaint- I I 1 1 I ly beautiful "La Boheme," to be sung here by I I a I f the Savage English Grand Opera company, deals II with life in the Quartior Latin of Paris and tells I I I the story of "Miml," the fragile sweetheart of : I m Rudolphe, the poor poet. Like La Dame aux ! I J I Camelias, she suffers from consumption, and I f j! I after a separation from the man she loves, she j if 1 comes back to the old attic rooms to die. Ul This is the main incident all of it and the I lf j climax is sentiment rather than tragedy. But I III j there is interwoven into the story a rich and I charming Vein of comedy that serves as a back- P ground for the Badness of the catastrophe. The I I J story of four friends, living or starving together I I I fji in the Latin Quarter Is an old one, but no one I r j, ever told the tale so well as Du Mauler In his BBj HI I J I "Trilby." It is high praise, therefore, to say that IBS I Ufll I tne 1Il)retto of "La Boheme" preserves the Quar- 9Biit I Mill 4 ' tier's atmosphere as fixed in a literary sense by HIJol Du Maurier. Rudolphe, the great poet; Marcel, the iill J I great painter; Colline, the great philosopher, and HI In ! Schaunard, the great musician, are the direct suc- 1 1 ffl I cessors of Taffy, the Laird and Little Billee. I I ij t These "Four Musketeers" can see the humor -j, 'f I III in being cold and hungry, in visiting the pawn BH1 " ? J shop. They treat their conditions as a joke, and S9 I (A ; s 1 j like little children pretend to have all the lux- Hfl I Mn t li uries of earth. HHi ill l I'll The most dramatic moment of the opera is In BK ' If i i 111 tbe last act' The comPanIons are romping about H, H J If ' the studio, two of them cqnducting a mock duel Hm ill I f m wln tne poker an(1 tnS when Musetta comes HW Hi I 1 m antl announces that Miml has come back and that W ill I IS X she is dying. The sympathetic and simple hearts HL iff f If I 1 of tne artists are touched with love and pity for Bi! If I 11 H tne frien( of other days, and while Musette takes Hn II I II II I tne earrnJ53 from ner ears tliat she may Pawn jB'' II li 11 IB them and get medicine for the dying girl, Colline 99 jjj f fl i takes off his old green coat, and after apostro- H ! ) J ' phizlng It with humorous pathos, takes It "round H8I J jjiji the corner," and soon returns with two or three Wm n ' 1 i pieces of silver. A pathetic scone is afforded by Hliii TOT)!! tbe sight of Rudolphe and Musette getting the Bl mi h I medicine and speaking so cheerfully about Miml's Bf' iH I I recovery, when she Is lying dead. The climax H w comes with Rudolphe's discovery of the real Bii am I 1 state of things. IBH fl 'II Puccini's musical setting Is more than ordi-99 ordi-99 9 91 narlly beautiful. For the comedy which forms so HHi vm Sal large a part of the opera, the scoring is exception-HK exception-HK Ml fjji t ally dainty and it is said the most charming ef-BK ef-BK li H I ' fects are produced with violins, pizzicato, com-HV com-HV Sl in bined with harp, and with 'cellos and horns can-fl can-fl 919 I tabile. The melodies are almost of a lilting char-IB char-IB illl acter, and for that reason must be very igrate-HB igrate-HB PI ! ful to the singers. At least a dozen of the daln-tttm daln-tttm i! LI tIost and most entrancing airs fall to Rudolphe Bam jJUfjifl Mr" slieelian) an(i to Mimi (Miss Rennyson). A HK wn i fine number is the love duet in the first act, which HK'JmI I a I ends witn ne Iss an(1 Miml's shocked surprise. For this latter feeling the orchestra plays a rich, sustained chord, followed by a merry three-four time lilt of pure joy. Miml's solo, "I Know Not Why," is also a delightful melody, while the scene of the burning of the new drama in order I to produce some warmth in tho chilled frame of I the dramatist and his friend the artist, is treatel I with a mock tragedy which is most humorous STARS OF THE SAVAGE ENGLISH OPERA COMPANY |