On Feb. 14 and 15, New Haven's Shubert Theatre will host Puccini's "La bohème" - one of the most performed operas of all time - in a production presented by Yale Opera, the Yale School of Music's opera program for graduate-level singers, and the Yale Philharmonia.
J. David Jackson, a staff conductor at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, will conduct the opera, which he believes is the perfect introduction to opera for those who haven't attended a live performance before.
"The story is so romantic and wonderful," Jackson said. "It's about love and loss and youth. If you don't know opera, this is your first opera."
This is Jackson's second year working with Yale Opera, having conducted their mainstage production of Tchaikovsky's "Iolanta" last year.
The production is directed by Christopher Mattaliano, and the set was designed by Kiki Gordon, who is currently pursuing her M.F.A. in set design at David Geffen School of Drama at Yale.
Here are five more things to know about Yale Opera and "La bohème."
1. Yale Opera enrolls just 16 singers in its two-year program.
Students accepted into the professional training program receive private voice lessons and coaching in operatic and song literature. In addition to the annual mainstage production at the Shubert each February, they also perform evenings of staged scenes in the fall and an opera with piano or chamber ensemble accompaniment in the spring, both at Sprague Memorial Hall.
Yale Opera has been under the direction of Gerald Martin Moore since 2020. Moore has previously worked with such opera luminaries as Renée Fleming, Erin Morley, Sabine Devieilhe, Dame Sarah Connolly, and Javier Camarena, and has consulted on opera productions around the world.
Moore said he selected "La bohème" for this year's production because it is well suited to the musical talents of the current cohort of vocalists.
"Because the program is small, I'm able to curate very much towards the students' strengths and pick repertoire that shows their best features," he said.
2. The weekend performances of "La bohème" will feature two different casts.
The casts, put together by Moore, differ in tone. One group has lighter voices, Jackson said, and the other has a slightly heavier quality. "It's like, do we pick white wine tonight or do we pick red? That's kind of the difference," he said.
Experiencing either production is a great way to get a glimpse of what's happening at Yale Opera, said Justice Yate '25 M.M., '26 M.M.A., a bass-baritone singer from Florida who plays the part of Schaunard, a musician.
"There are so many talented students here working not only on this production but in every single facet of the program," he said. "These are singers who come here to learn from the amazing faculty, who pour knowledge into them and teach them that it's not just about making music. It's about telling a story and selling a message that goes deeper than sound or harmony. There's real professional talent here, and everyone deserves to see it."
3. J. David Jackson has conducted operas to widespread acclaim around the world.
He made his conducting debut with the comic opera "Don Pasquale" at the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie in Brussels. Other engagements include the Canadian Opera Company, the Hong Kong Philharmonic, the Glyndebourne Festival in England, and the Siena Summer Festival in Italy.
Jackson made his Metropolitan Opera conducting debut with "Hansel and Gretel" in 2008; he returned to the Met in 2020 to conduct "Porgy and Bess." In 2024, he led the Met's production of "Orfeo ed Euridice," and in 2025 conducted "The Magic Flute."
4. "La bohème" (The bohemian) made its world premiere in 1896 at the Teatro Regio in Turin, Italy.
Set in Paris in the 1830s, the story revolves around a group of struggling young artists - a painter (Marcello), poet (Rodolfo), philosopher (Colline) and musician (Schaunard). Rodolfo falls in love with a seamstress, Mimì, after she knocks on the door of his garret on Christmas Eve. The two begin a romance that, while youthfully intense at first, gradually comes under the strain of poverty and illness. Another romantic interest is a singer, Musetta; she performs the opera's well-known aria, "Musetta's Waltz."
Told in four acts, the opera is based on Henri Murger's 1851 novel, "Scenes from Bohemian Life" (Scènes de la vie de bohème).
"It's a classic love story, but it's perfectly composed by Puccini to be just the right length, the right mix of comedy and tragedy," Moore said. "And it has absolutely beautiful melodies."
5. The opera has inspired multiple adaptations in modern culture.
Perhaps most famously, Jonathan Larson's 1996 musical "Rent" - one of the longest running shows in Broadway history and winner of four Tony Awards - was loosely based on "La bohème."
The opera's music and themes figure heavily in the 1987 romantic comedy film "Moonstruck," starring Cher, who won an Oscar for her performance.
And in The Simpsons' episode titled "The Homer of Seville," Homer finds himself in a production of "La bohème," performing the role of Rodolfo.
