Bohème Gets Top-Notch Staging

By Truman C. Wang
November 7, 2002

La Bohème

Opera in four acts by
GIACOMO PUCCINI
Libretto by Giuseppe Giacosa & Luigi Illica
Sung in Italian with English titles

John DeMain, conductor
Henri Venanzi, chorusmaster
Opera Pacific Orchestra and Chorus

Performance of Wednesday, Nov 6, 2002 at
The Orange County Performing Arts Center

COSTA MESA, CALIF – Few opera companies I know give their young resident trainees as many opportunities for mainstage exposure as the Opera Pacific, and few operas serve to showcase the singers’ skills as well as La Bohème.  For this simple tale of doomed young love, Puccini wrote music of great charm and simplicity (lots of humor and horse-play in Acts One and Four) and genuine pathos (Mimi’s “Donde lieta” and the great quartet in Act Three).   It is an opera for those who are in love, or those who, having loved and lost, remember what it is like to be in love.  As many times as I have heard La Bohème, there is something about this enchanting work that always affects me deeply every time I hear it.

The production design, first seen at the Canadian Opera Company, effectively evokes the 1890’s Paris, with its tiny, run-down Latin Quarter flat (where the only luxury item is the heater) and the colorful gaieties of the Parisian street scene.  In Act Three, the bare wintry landscape with falling snow flakes makes a tender poetic backdrop in the midst of human misery.  And if the Café Mamos scene is not exactly teeming with people and animals like the famous Franco Zeffirelli production for the Met (which I saw in 1995), it is teeming with cheerful high-spirited singing by the fine Opera Pacific Chorus.

The young cast, made up primarily of Opera Pacific’s resident artists, acquitted themselves extremely well.  Even for a ‘B’ cast, the singing was anything but second-rate.  If Scott Piper’s Rodolfo did not have quite the poetic word-pointing of the best Rodolfo’s, his committed singing and youthful voice gave much pleasure.  It’s also nice to hear the tenor not opting for the high C at the end of Act One for a change.  Baritone Frank Hernandez, formerly a member of San Francisco Opera’s Merola Young Artists program, gave a firm, incisive portrayal as the painter and Rodolfo’s sidekick Marcello.  Bass Kyle Ketelsen’s dry vocalism was a handicap in last season’s Don Giovanni, but here he sounded appropriately gray and world-weary, even poignant, in Colline’s coat aria “Vecchia zimara”. 

Rachel Cobb’s pure soprano has the charm and fragility requisite for the role of Mimi.  The cleanly articulated line in “Mi chiamano Mimi”, the beautifully floated high notes in the final scene – all testified to an artist in full command of her craft.   Vocally accomplished as Ms. Cobb is, I cannot help sensing the sometimes stiff phrasing and deliberate tempos that betray her relative inexperience.

Soprano Anita Johnson, hailing from New York City Opera, gave a delightful portrayal of Musetta – a coquette with a hot temper, a shrill voice and a heart of gold.  Ms. Johnson sang her big aria “Quando me’n vo” (“As I wander through the streets the people turn to admire my beauty…and this makes me happy.”) with swooning passion and gorgeous soft tones that was truly memorable.  

Conductor John DeMain provided sympathetic support for the young lovers onstage, and moved the plot along without wallowing in its unabashed sentimentality.  A dramatic highlight was the Act Three quartet, where Mimi and Rodolfo sing their bittersweet reconciliation, and Musetta and Marcello snap angrily at each other.  The orchestral playing in this scene had a sweeping lyricism and emotional directness which I found unbearably moving.

The remaining performances of La Bohème are on November 7, 8, 9, 10.  Don’t miss it!

Truman C. Wang is editor of Classical Voice.

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