When I was walking in the street ~ Puccini, a composer from the opera "The Artist's Life"

Mussetta Waltz-Walking in the Street is a waltz sung by Mussetta, a female worker, in the second act of the opera The Artist's Life. Mussetta is the lover of the painter Masero. Living in poverty, sometimes she has to associate with some rich people in order to get some material enjoyment from them.

On Christmas Eve, musician Shawnar made some money by playing the piano. So, four young poor artists (including painter Masero, poet Rudolph and philosopher Colin) and Mimi went to a hotel in the city center for dinner, which was regarded as celebrating the festival. Just as they were eating and chatting, suddenly, comments, boos and laughter appeared in the crowd. It turned out that Mussetta, who was well dressed, came to the bar holding an old man, a city senator. Their arrival made Masero very embarrassed and angry. When Mussetta saw this, he pretended as if nothing had happened, walked beside Masero, touched him on purpose, and then sang this waltz. In the song, she hinted to Marcelo that she still loved him deeply. This song is happy, but her heart is painful.

This song was written in E major in a trilogy with 3/4 beats. The melody of this song is very beautiful and moving. It describes and reflects Mussetta's beautiful image, kind heart, frankness and willfulness in detail.

In the play, when Mussetta sang this waltz, he occasionally inserted other people's lyrics in the middle three times. Like Mussetta. When he sang "Everyone likes me and appreciates me from top to bottom", Marcelo sang "Friends, I can't stand it". The old senator sang, "Aren't you ashamed?" When Mussetta sang: "How happy, how happy". The old senator sang "What a boring song". Marcelo sang: "This song is really irritating!" When Mimi heard this song, she saw Mussetta's painful heart. This waltz is a solo in the concert, and these interjections have been deleted.

When Covent Garden Opera House performed the opera "The Artist's Life", Mussetta's aria was carefully arranged in the play. The stage is located on the second floor. Before singing this waltz, Mussetta went upstairs to the pool table. She hit the red ball and the white ball at the same time, and then turned to hold the railing and sang this famous excerpt. Seeing this arrangement, the audience could not help secretly admiring: "Oh, great!"