It is the only recording ever made of a Puccini opera by its original conductor (see Recording history below). A recording of the performance was later released by RCA Victor on vinyl record, tape and compact disc. In 1946, fifty years after the opera's premiere, Toscanini conducted a commemorative performance of it on radio with the NBC Symphony Orchestra. Since then, La bohème has become part of the standard Italian opera repertory and is one of the most frequently performed operas worldwide.

The world premiere of La bohème was in Turin on 1 February 1896 at the Teatro Regio, conducted by the 28-year-old Arturo Toscanini. The story is set in Paris around 1830 and shows the Bohemian lifestyle (known in French as ' la bohème') of a poor seamstress and her artist friends. La bohème ( / ˌ l ɑː b oʊ ˈ ɛ m/ Italian: ) is an opera in four acts, composed by Giacomo Puccini between 18 to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa, based on Scènes de la vie de bohème (1851) by Henri Murger.

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