La Bohème - San Francisco Opera

Alcindoro to do whatever she wants, and tonight she wants him to spend money on her.
She is, however, also determined to get Marcello back. In order to get her way, she throws
a good sized tantrum (and most of the Café’s plates) and generally torments Alcindoro.
She finally gets him to leave by complaining that her shoes are too tight. When he goes off
to find her another pair of shoes, she turns her attention to seducing Marcello ("Quando
me'n vo") once again as the delighted crowd watches. Just then a military unit marches by,
and telling the waiter that Alcindoro will pay for the meal, the Bohemians fall in with passing
soldiers and escape, just as Alcindoro returns.
ACT III
An early winter morning, about two months later, on the outskirts of Paris.
A customs officer is letting street cleaners and then milkmaids into the city. It is market
day, and the milkmaids are coming to the city to sell their butter and cheese. Late tavern
goers can still be heard inside the tavern, laughing and drinking. Mimì wanders in,
searching for the place where Marcello now lives with Musetta. Mimì has come to Marcello
for advice, because she and Rodolfo are always fighting. When Marcello comes out of the
tavern, Mimì confesses that though she loves Rodolfo, his jealousy has been making them
miserable, and she thinks they will have to break up. Rodolfo is heard waking up inside the
tavern, and Mimì hides. He comes out and when Marcello asks him about Mimì, he first
says that she has been flirting with other men. Marcello doesn’t believe him though, and
finally Rodolfo admits that he is afraid Mimì will become terribly ill since he is too poor to
take care of her. Mimì comes out of her hiding place and sadly tells Rodolfo that she will
leave him ("Donde lieta uscì"). Just then, Marcello hears Musetta's laughter inside the
tavern, and he runs in to stop her from flirting with another man. As Marcello and Musetta
begin to fight about her flirting, Mimì and Rodolfo try to say goodbye to each other. Mimì
and Rodolfo realize that they do not want to be apart. They decide to stay together until
spring, while the other pair part from each other in a storm of insults.
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