PUCCINI La Bohème
Stefan Herheim’s concept Bohème on DVD from Oslo
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: Giacomo Puccini
Genre:
Opera
Label: Electric Pictures
Magazine Review Date: 02/2013
Media Format: Digital Versatile Disc
Media Runtime: 127
Mastering:
Stereo
DDD
Catalogue Number: EPC01DVD
Tracks:
Composition | Artist Credit |
---|---|
(La) Bohème, 'Bohemian Life' |
Giacomo Puccini, Composer
Diego Torre, Rodolfo, Tenor Eivind Gullberg Jensen, Conductor Espen Langvik, Schaunard, Baritone Giacomo Puccini, Composer Giovanni Battista Parodi, Colline, Bass Jennifer Rowley, Musetta, Soprano Marita Solberg, Mimi, Soprano Norwegian National Opera Children's Chorus Norwegian National Opera Chorus Norwegian National Opera Orchestra Svein Erik Sagbråten, Benoit; Parpignol; Alcindoro; Toll Gate Keeper; Death Vasily Ladjuk, Marcello, Baritone |
Author: David Patrick Stearns
The opera proper inhabits grey zones between memory, fantasy and real life, with the characters dressed as Paris bohemians from the time of the opera’s premiere (1896), though the setting drifts back into the hospital periodically, most memorably in Act 1: after her entrance, Mimì sheds her wig and dress and prepares to die. Then Rodolfo’s aria brings her back to life. So when she sings about the arrival of spring in her own aria, it’s emotionally charged in ways that such over-exposed music rarely is. Some directorial touches are brutal, such as when Mimì collapses at Café Momus and is jeered by passing children. Some are devilishly funny, such as in Act 3 when Musetta emerges from an operating table after cosmetic surgery.
Most brilliant is Mimì’s Act 4 death scene. If you want to be surprised, stop reading here: her final sung words of consolation come from her already-departed spirit as her bald double lies increasingly lifeless in the hospital bed. Her ghost guides Musetta’s hand towards Marcello’s. Elsewhere, though, I could do without a recurring demonic character – an ETA Hoffmann type who represents death and underscores the obvious.
High-concept productions often demand musical distensions but, when heard and not seen, this La bohème is a vital, middle-of-the-road reading, full of discipline and integrity, thanks, no doubt, to conductor Eivind Gullberg Jensen. The cast’s singing is clearly invigorated by these fresh staging ideas. And though these voices might not dislodge memories of Jussi Björling or Renata Tebaldi, they’re all absolutely first-class. Tenor Diego Torre has a wonderfully robust high C; soprano Marita Sølberg is as stylistically Italianate as any Mimì I’ve ever heard. Don’t schedule any social engagements after watching this. You might not be in any shape to keep them.
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