Amped-up La Boheme gets by on considerable charm
THE charm of the setting, the enthusiasm of the cast and the sheer beauty of Puccini’s music were enough to overcome some minor quibbles on opening night of La Boheme.
Wentworth Courier
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THE charm of the setting, the enthusiasm of the cast and the sheer beauty of Puccini’s music were enough to overcome some minor quibbles on opening night of La Boheme.
With the sound uncomfortably amped up, perhaps to compete with a helicopter circling noisily nearby (Barack Obama was a guest at the Art Gallery) and an intermittent blizzard of small fluffy stuff blowing from snow machines, there were certainly distractions aplenty.
Andy Morton’s production updates the setting to Paris in 1968, when stone-throwing protesters and striking workers ruled the streets and revolution was in the air, so much so that president de Gaulle secretly fled Paris briefly and returned only to dissolve the National Assembly and call for fresh elections, at which point calm was restored.
Don Potra’s faux snow-clad set gave the performers the sort of space they rarely receive on stage; a sweeping arc, gently tilting, with an elevated central block for the bohemians’ studio and behind that a large forward-sloping screen bearing images to set the scene, the Eiffel Tower and so on.
VIVID
Against this wintry background of social and political upheaval, the poverty-stricken bohemians frolicked and joked, cheerfully burning one of their number’s works in a vain effort to keep warm, while workers outside cleared up paving stones and wrecked cars smouldered and burned into flame.
As the tubercular seamstress Mimi, Romanian singer Iulia Maria Dan brought a warm and vivid soprano, adding touches of young rebellion that faded as the reality of death approached.
Her touching rendering of Mi chiamano Mimì was performed with great delicacy.
As her lover, Rodolfo, Korean singer Ho-Yoon Chung offered a clear and sharply focused tenor.
The role of Musetta is one of the most highly prized in the operatic canon, requiring a fiery and brassy front moderated with a heart of gold. Here, Australian soprano Julie Lea Goodwin fitted the part neatly, even arriving in a police van for her first scene, although no explanation is offered for the behaviour that led to her arrest. For some things, you just have to use your imagination.
Baritone Samuel Dundas was likewise in fine form as the painter Marcello, whose rollercoaster relationship with Musetta provides the counterpart to the other lovers’ more gentle and tragic affair.
EXEMPLARY
The supporting cast was also exemplary, with Australian bass Richard Anderson a standout as the philosopher Colline. His emotional farewell to his old coat, sold to raise money for Mimi’s medicine, was genuinely touching.
Baritone Christopher Hillier, as the musician Schaunard, and baritone John Bolton Wood, doubling as the landlord Benoit and as Musetta’s wealthy admirer, Alcindoro, added a few deft comic touches.
There were fireworks, most notably after Mimi and Rodolfo became smitten, a balloon-clutching toy-seller wafted heavenward by one of the background cranes, tumblers, stilt-walkers and the sheer magic of Puccini’s music.
Hidden under the stage, conductor Brian Brian Castles-Onion maintained a firm and steady pace, helped along by an in-form chorus.
By the time you read this, Mr Obama should have left for Tokyo, so no more helicopters buzzing around at night. As for the amped-up sound at this harbourside site, you could try earplugs but that would defeat the purpose of going. Perhaps the production staff will listen and tone it down a bit.
DETAILS
● OPERA: La Boheme
● STARS: Iulia Maria Dan, Ho-Yoon Chung, Julie Lea Goodwin, Samuel Dundas
● AT: Fleet Steps, Mrs Macquaries Point
● UNTIL: April 22
● BOOKINGS: http://opera.org.au, 9699 1099