Seeing Sounds

This activity discusses two moments in La Bohème in which Puccini uses his compositional skills to musically describe settings, illustrate characters’ thoughts, or provide sound effects to accompany actions being performed on stage. Simply recognizing such moments can enhance students’ enjoyment of the opera. But students may enjoy using Puccini’s music as a springboard for their own artistic efforts—whether creating drawings, paintings, or even sculptures in clay. 

Have your students listen to the opening of Act III, "Ohè, là, le guardie... Aprite! (Track 22 on Met on Demand, La Bohème (2018), or on YouTube), and ask them to draw, paint, or sculpt what they hear. 

• Where do they think this scene might be set? Indoors? Outdoors? 

• What kind of mood or time of year do the sounds imply? What do they imagine when they hear this music? In the opera, this passage represents the snowy morning outside the tavern where Musetta and Marcello have found employment. The sharp, powerful notes that open the track are followed by the delicate sounds of flute and harp. 

• Encourage your students to think about what sensations or colors these tones bring to mind. What sense of space do students feel is evoked by this music? 

Try the same exercise with Mimì’s Act I aria “Mi chiamano Mimì” (Track 11 Met on Demand, La Boheme (2018), or on YouTube). What do they think she is singing about? When they hear the flute answer Mimì’s thoughts of spring, it may not be Puccini’s bird that they add to their graphic interpretation, but a shape, a color, or a visual texture. 

Any experience of art will always be deeply personal, both for creators and audiences. The story and music of La Bohème have moved thousands of people, but it’s unlikely that any two have felt precisely the same way at precisely the same time. By responding to Puccini with their own artistic creations, students can make La Bohème part of their personal cultural heritage.