How well do you know your opera?
Palm Beach Opera's 2026 season begins this week. And if you arrive at the theater about an hour before the curtain goes up, you might be surprised by how much you can learn.
Before each performance, PBO holds a free session called 'Curtain Warmers,' offering first-timers and avid opera buffs alike helpful anecdotes and insights into the opera’s history, composer and music.
They’re usually hosted by Associate Conductor and Chorus Master Gregory Ritchey, who says the short talks are widely popular with audiences.
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The season opener is La Boheme – many Broadway musical lovers are likely acquainted with the story; it served as the inspiration for Rent.
Giacomo Puccini’s opera is set in 19th-century Paris and is centered on a passionate love affair between a poet and a seamstress.
But did you know that Puccini's rivalry with another composer led to what classical music experts refer to as the "Battle of the Bohemes"?
Puccini and Ruggero Leoncavallo — perhaps best known as the composer of Pagliacci — had both written a La Boheme based on the same source material.
"Puccini knew this," says Ritchey. "And they told Puccini and he says, 'Let him write his opera, I'll write mine — and then we'll see who wins in the end.' And it seems like Puccini has won!"
Next month, PBO goes up with Georges Bizet's The Pearl Fishers, a romantic opera set in ancient Ceylon, modern-day Sri Lanka.
And how many people know that the original setting was Mexico? The shift to Ceylon was made shortly before the opera's 1863 premiere, possibly for political reasons.
Ritchey likes to keep the 'Curtain Warmers' sessions short and sweet — about 20 or 25 minutes. Any longer, he says, would run the risk of detracting from the audience's full appreciation of the work.
"It does help to have a little bit of information going in sometimes — it can just help your enjoyment of it," he says.
IF YOU GO
Palm Beach Opera - 2026 Season
La Boheme
By Giacomo Puccini
Jan 23 - Jan 25
The Pearl Fishers
By Georges Bizet
Feb 20 - Feb 22
Rigoletto
By Giuseppe Verdi
Mar 20 - Mar 22
Kravis Center for the Performing Arts
701 Okeechobee Blvd.
West Palm Beach, FL 33401
More information: pbopera.org
