United States Puccini, La bohème: Soloists, The Metropolitan Opera Refrain and Orchestra / Marco Armiliato (conductor). Metropolitan Opera, New York, 4.1.2024. (RP)
Manufacturing:
Manufacturing and Units – Franco Zeffirelli
Costumes – Peter J. Corridor
Lighting – Gil Wechsler
Revival director – Mirabelle Ordinaire
Solid:
Marcello – Adam Plachetka
Rodolfo – Stephen Costello
Colline – Krzysztof Bączyk
Schaunard – Rodion Pogossov
Benoît / Alcindoro – Donald Maxwell
Mimì – Elena Stikhina
Parpignol – Gregory Warren
Musetta – Kristina Mkhitaryan
Customs Officer – Ned Hanlon
Sergeant – Jonathan Scott
For individuals who are fussed in regards to the Metropolitan Opera diversifying its repertoire to incorporate extra up to date works, the January schedule ought to function a balm. The Met is presenting three operas, all of them classics: Elijah Moshinsky’s monumental manufacturing of Verdi’s Nabucco, Carrie Cracknell’s new, rodeo-style tackle Bizet’s Carmen and Franco Zeffirelli’s beloved staging of Puccini’s La bohème. Right here’s hoping for a cha-ching on the field workplace.
Offered greater than 500 instances since its premiere in 1981, Zeffirelli’s staging of La bohème is essentially the most carried out manufacturing in Met historical past. It has all the time had its justifiable share of critics who denounced the excesses. Audiences, nonetheless, have liked it from the beginning, as did James Levine, who was the Met’s inventive director on the time and led the primary efficiency. His tackle Zeffirelli: ‘I merely adore the person!’ Levine additionally defended the expense related to the manufacturing, appropriately prophesying that it could stay within the Met’s repertoire indefinitely.
It’s Zeffirelli’s extravagance that gives the wow issue. The shabby, roof-top garret shared by Rodolfo and Marcello would in all probability be divided into a number of rooms in a present-day Parisian boutique resort. There are few spectacles within the theater as awe-inspiring because the Met’s gold curtain rising on the Café Momus nestled snuggly within the Latin Quarter. Is there something bleaker than the sight of snow falling at daybreak on the Barrière d’Enfer? The glow from the tavern home windows appears to function a beacon that guides Mimì to Marcello and Musetta.
The primary efficiency of the brand new yr introduced some contemporary faces to the rotating forged of Bohemians, though not as many as anticipated. Tenor Joseph Calleja withdrew from the run, and Stephen Costello stepped in as Rodolfo, which he had been singing since late October. The brand new faces within the ever-changing casts have been Elena Stikhina in her home debut as Mimì and Kristina Mkhitaryan as Musetta.
Stikhina gave a sensitively sculpted efficiency each dramatically and vocally. In Act I, she projected a mix of reticence and opportunism that was additionally evident in her singing. Within the opening scene, Stikhina voice was hesitant with the phrases barely clipped. When singing of Mimì’s love of spring and her goals of affection, nonetheless, her voice blossomed gloriously. The third act confirmed the soprano at her dramatic finest, particularly when paired with Adam Plachetka’s Marcello. Returning to the garret, Stikhina exhibited glimmers of the fullness of her voice when reliving the previous with Stephen Costello’s Rodolfo, however there was a wanness to the sound that portended her tragic finish.
Mkhitaryan has a voice as fiery and attention-grabbing because the character she embodied. All consideration was on her Musetta as she flirted outrageously to recapture Marcello’s coronary heart on the Café Momus. Her glamour and theatrics, nonetheless, have been simply secondary to the fascinating fantastic thing about her voice. She too was at her finest when squaring off with Marcello on the finish of Act III.
Plachetka is the anchor of this run. His hearty Marcello could also be self-absorbed, however his singing is full and exuberant. The baritone brings out one of the best in each different singer on stage, together with Costello’s Rodolfo. As nice as Costello’s singing was in Act I, aside from a couple of strained excessive notes within the opening measures, he was even higher when buying and selling barbs with Plachetka at first of the ultimate scene. Two extra totally different singers could be laborious to think about, however they do make a profitable crew.
Krzysztof Bączyk as Colline has each a profound bass voice and a flare for comedy. His distant, absent-minded thinker brings a chuckle with each look, till the ultimate scene. His change of temper and demeanor made his farewell to his beloved overcoat as transferring as what’s to come back within the last moments of the opera.
Rodion Pogossov was a scene stealer as Schaunard with a voice as commanding as any on stage. Donald Maxwell is a grasp at portraying previous fussbudgets, as he as soon as once more proved along with his Benoît and Alcindoro.
As has been the case with each efficiency of the Zeffirelli manufacturing that I’ve seen through the years, the heartiest ovations went to the conductor and the Met’s refrain and orchestra. Marco Armiliato made his Met debut with La bohème in 1998. The years have solely deepened his understanding and interpretation of Puccini’s rating.
Rick Perdian
