Opera Australia’s La Bohème captures the romance of bohemian Paris with a fresh twist

By Brian Long, Lecturer in Arts and Cultural Management, The University of Melbourne

Paris in the 1830s and 40s danced on the edge. Napoleon was dead. The Bourbon royals were back. Revolutions in 1830 and 1848 brought pitched battles to the streets. Glitzy wealth rubbed up against dire poverty.

Yet the city was a honey-pot for 20-something creatives; meet the bohemians. These brooding, passion-infused romantics dominated the art world. Chopin was there penning some of the most romantic piano music ever written. Victor Hugo’s Hunchback of Notre-Dame came out in 1831.

Among these dreamers was Henry Murger, a jobbing writer living hand-to-mouth. In 1849, he…

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