LA BOHÈME AT THE TEATRO DEL MAGGIO IN FLORENCE: NOT JUST MEMORY, BUT FUTURE AND NEW TALENTS

Last night, December 30, 2025, I had the pleasure of attending Giacomo Puccini’s La Bohème at the Teatro del Maggio in Florence.
It was an evening that effortlessly brought to mind the simple power of opera when everything works.

I was immediately struck by the sets and lighting: meticulously crafted, restrained, and never needlessly flashy. There was that rare quality where you weren’t looking at the stage from outside, but rather felt like you were there, in the attic with the protagonists, or among the crowd at Café Momus. The offstage choirs, moreover, truly conveyed the sense of a living city, breathing beyond the edges of the stage.

The singers were all excellent, but the two female leads particularly struck me:
Mimì, played by Carolina López Moreno , was a surprise not only for her voice but for the uncommon beauty associated with this role, a stage presence at once intense and delicate.
Musetta, with the face and voice of Mariam Battistelli , splendid, brought to the stage that blend of lightness, coquetry, and humanity that makes the character irresistible.

Piero Pretti’s Rodolfo was also very convincing: a confident, engaging tenor, with a clean vocal line and a phrasing capable of conveying both the enthusiasm of the young poet in love and the final shadows of the drama.

I admit, I’m biased about the music: I adore Puccini. However, I can say that the orchestra performed beautifully, compact, attentive, and capable of staying close to the stage without ever obscuring it. And my seat, right above the pit, allowed me to enjoy every detail.

I was pleased to see so many young people on stage among the singers, and even more so the many children in the choir: they give the sense of a theater that isn’t just about memory, but about the future, being educated through music.
One detail I really appreciated: the stage actors, those who don’t sing but play the waiter, the painter, the patrons… all with lively, precise gestures, never thrown in. Small details that make the situations believable and give depth to the story.

The theater’s acoustics are truly excellent: you can feel the shape of the hall and the wooden walls working together to create a natural, clean equalization that envelops you without echoing.
In the pit, the young conductor Diego Ceretta, pleased and often smiling at the performers, led the evening with energy and attention, confidently connecting the orchestra and stage.

A Bohème that demonstrates how opera, when it works, can still unite memory and future in a single breath.

GALLERY