Meredith Italian Students Attend La Bohème

On January 28, a number of Meredith students attended the Italian opera La Bohème by Puccini, accompanied by their Italian instructor Sandra Pesoli.

The new production by the North Carolina Opera took place at the Raleigh Memorial Auditorium.

“After two years I was able to bring back possibly the best Italian cultural event I could find for my students in the Raleigh area: the opera. We followed the protocols, so proof of vaccination and masks were required of all the participants,” said Pesoli.

The students learned about Italian music and opera in their Italian classes, and the week prior to the show, they listened to a presentation on Giacomo Puccini and La Bohème, by the Head of the Music Department.

The story of La Bohème is captivating, with or without a fluent understanding of Italian. The passionate love between the seamstress Mimì and the poet Rodolfo who first meet on Christmas Eve in 1830 Paris, truly pulls you into the story and makes you feel every emotion the characters on stage are feeling.

“I really enjoyed the opportunity to practice listening to Italian in a real-world setting and found it impressive how much I recognized without looking at the subtitles! All Italian classes should have the opportunity to attend opera at least once,” said Italian student Joy McCreary.

Fellow student Hannah Ross also appreciated the opportunity to attend the opera for the first time.

“It was an amazing opportunity and experience to see La Bohème as my first opera, especially free, thanks to a generous Meredith donor. Not only was La Boheme entertaining, humorous, and emotional, but it gave me the opportunity to be able to learn and hear the Italian language in a different setting and see some of the Italian culture on stage. La Bohème was very worth attending and would be wonderful to attend again next year,” said Ross.