Product DescriptionLa Bohème is an opera in four acts by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa, based on """"Scènes de la vie de Bohème"""" by Henri Murger. The world première of """"La Bohème"""" was performed in Turin on February 1, 1896 at the Teatro Regio (now the Teatro Regio Torino) and conducted by the young Arturo Toscanini. In 1946, fifty years after the opera's premiere, Toscanini conducted a performance of it on U.S. radio, and this performance was eventually released on records and on compact disc. It is the only recording of a Puccini opera led by its original conductor. Madama Butterfly (Madame Butterfly) is an opera in three acts (originally two acts) by Giacomo Puccini, with an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. The opera was based partly on a short story by John Luther Long, which was turned into a play by David Belasco; it was also based on the novel, """"Madame Chrysanthème"""" (1887), by Pierre Loti. The first version of the opera premiered February 17, 1904 at La Scala in Milan. It consisted of two acts and was very poorly received. On May 28 of that year, a revised version was released in Brescia. The revision split the disproportionately long second act in two, and included some other minor changes. In its new form Puccini's opera was a huge success; it crossed the Atlantic to the Metropolitan Opera in New York in 1907. Today, the opera is enjoyed in two acts in Italy, while in America the three-act version is more popular. In fact, according to Opera America, """"Madama Butterfly"""" is the most often-performed opera in North America.