One Phrase, Two Different Impressions

The tone and the inflection of what we express in words is an indicator of our inner soul; they reflect our feelings and intentions. They are signposts of who we are in any given situation. Poets, playwrights, and authors throughout history were aware of this human trait and employed it to describe and further their literary and social ideas. So have artists, sculptors, and choreographers employed this principle each in his own, unique manner, using the instruments of expression that applied to their specific discipline.  The operatic composer too is no stranger to this experience. He uses his musical palette, as is his wont, to describe ever so delicately, a change in mood or feeling in his characters sometimes using the same or similar words. A beautiful example of this sensitivity to detail appears in Act I of Puccini’s La Bohème. Rodolfo the poet is alone in the bachelor apartment that he shares with three friends; he must finish an article he promised to his publisher.  He is not able to concentrate; he is not in the mood. Suddenly, Mimi, the upstairs neighbor knocks on the door supposedly to ask that her extinguished candle be re-lit.  In the ensuing scene the two fall in love.  [https://youtu.be/cSuL4u3bOpg] Puccini delicately describes the changing mood in Mimi’s behavior based on a single phrase uttered by her during the exchange with Rodolfo. No sooner has Mimi exited the apartment with her newly lit candle, she quickly re-enters to the following phrase.’Oh! Sventata, sventata [….] Importuna la vicina’. (Oh! The candle has gone out [….] (18:36 – 18:47) and bothersome neighbor. (19:10 – 19:33).  Note the gay, light-hearted music that accompanies the statements.  Immediately following her aria Mi chiamano Mimi (They call me Mimi), she intends to make a hurried exit ‘Sono la sua vicina [….] d’ora a importunare’. (I am your neighbor [….] at this inopportune hour 29:22 – 29:34). In both instances, neighbor and inopportune are joined.  However, notice the difference in mood between the two. Coincidence?  Not a chance!  The Mimi that came into the apartment has undergone an emotional transformation. Upon her entrance, Mimi was an unknown.  Nevertheless, having revealed herself during her aria, Mimi felt exposed and not in a particularly good light.  Regardless of her soaring aspirations, in the end, Mimi’s flowers were artificial.  ‘Ma I fiori ch’io faccio, ahime, non hanno odore’. (But the flowers I make, alas, have no fragrance). Puccini accurately captured Mimi’s feelings in both instances. Only the sensitive artist can fathom the fragility of the human condition so precisely.  This what makes Puccini the individual so special and the opera composer as an artist, so unique.