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GIACOMO PUCCINI
LA BOHEME
METROPOLITAN OPERA COMPANY
NOVEMBER, 2003
Reviewed by: Paul Joseph Walkowski
OperaOnline.us
THE STORY:
Puccini's La Bohème is not a complicated story. Its setting is a room, a town square, and outside a tavern on a cold wintry night.
The characters are not heroic, nor do they accomplish great feats in the period we know them - which is briefly. Instead, we glimpse the joys and sorrows of a group of friends and lovers, all very human people, struggling to do no more than get past the day, keep warm in the cold of winter, enjoy a laugh or two with each other at their favorite Café and, maybe, if they are lucky, find love and happiness in their lives.
In Puccini's characters we find, alas, a mirror of ourselves. And the story that at first blush is not epic in scope turns out to be simple and grand and profound in the way it speaks to our human qualities, giving credence to the saying that the simplest things in life are often the most profound.
There are essentially six major players. Four friends: Rodolfo, the writer; Marcello, the artist; Colline, the philosopher; Schaunard the musician; and the women who share their lives: Mimi, the neighbor across the hall, a seamstress and fated lover of Rodolfo, and Musetta, a woman of the street, who loves the mercurial artist, Marcello. This is their story - our story: found love, lost love, fleeting love, friendship - and a reminder that our time on earth is not to be wasted.
It is no secret that La Bohème is a romantic tragedy, and we know from the first moment we are introduced to Mimi that her cough is more than just a winter's cold, and that her love for the jealous poet/writer Rodolfo, and his for her, though trying at times, will be brief. In this story, we observe the trials and tribulations of two couples that find love, only to lose and find it again - Rodolfo and Mimi; and Marcello and Musetta.
The characters are bound together throughout the short period we get to know them, together in Rodolfo's apartment, the café Momus, outside a town tavern, and in the end to be with Mimi in her final hours. "Am I still beautiful", she asks Rodolfo, after her friends collect what valuables they possess and leave to trade their meager fortunes for medicine, and Rodolfo answers that she is "as beautiful as dawn". When the friends return with medicine, they learn that Mimi is beyond help. This sad and tragic story ends with Rodolfo draping his body over his beloved Mimi and mourning her loss, with - as the story began - his friends assembled around to share in his grief.
WHERE I VIEWED IT:
The Lincoln Center in New York is about as fitting an opera hall as one can find. The underground garage is convenient for those who drive to Manhattan. Access to the auditorium is little more than taking a brief escalator ride to the outside lobby. The elegance of the cranberry walls and seating, set off against a gold ceiling, curtain and other subtle appointments, most notably twelve "star burst" chandeliers that rise to the ceiling when the performance begins, create a warmth that enhances the opera experience on the coldest winter's day. The hall itself has six levels, of which I prefer either the Grand Tier or Dress Circle. A service called, "Met Titles" assist in knowing what is being sung . Discrete screens on the rear of each seat provide an audience friendly and convenient way to know what is going on without being a distraction or eyestrain. A chime sounds and twelve "star burst" crystal chandeliers are raised as the house lights dim and the performance begins.
THE PERFORMANCE
This is one of those productions that is simply difficult to explain. If you can only see one production of La Bohème, Franco Zeffirelli's would be at the very top of the list. It is magnificent and thoroughly complimentary - not overbearing -- to the story. The three-dimensional sets, including falling snow in the Third Act, and a multi-level town square in the Second Act, that defies design and description, along with a cast in the Second Act that must be over 150 extras, including a donkey drawn wagon and horse drawn carriage, simply awed the audience - and that's not to take anything away from the set in both First and Fourth Acts, comprised of Rodolfo's garret apartment.
Zeffirelli has managed to give us a glimpse into a cut away pitched roof apartment above the Latin Quarter in Paris, that makes you believe the actors are on the top floor and in an apartment. Brilliant, brilliant brilliant!
And here's the best part, the set design does not intrude on the performances, instead it gives the performers even greater leeway to be who they are where they are. There is nothing unbelievable about either the performance or where it occurs.
In that regard, the title roles of fated lovers: Vincenzo LaScola as Rodolfo and Cristina Gallardo-Domas as Mimi were played with both unhurried and studied perfection as were those of the ensemble cast: Mariusz Kwiecien as Marcello, Emily Pulley as Musetta, Oren Gradus as the philosopher Colline, and Christipher Schaldenbrand as the musician Schaunard. You know you have a good, competent ensemble when the performers don't have to shout the libretto at the audience, but rather emote it as easily as if they were talking to one another in the familial settings this play casts them. Bravo! All the performances, supporting and otherwise, were oustanding. I was particularly struck by the way the voice of Christina Gallardo-Domas carried - tender and fragile as she whispered her farewell to Rodolfo in the final act.
And, of course, there is the wonderful Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, under the direction of Daniel Oren: full-bodied at one time, sublime and supportive at others. I have stated this on many occasions and repeat it here because it is true: there is nothing that compares to the direct and immediate sound of a live orchestra. It creates an opera experience in its own right that justifies attendance.
In every respect, this cast, this producer, this orchestra and this place, made this La Bohème an opera experience to be treasured. PJW
