The Metropolitan Opera performance of
Giacomo Puccini’s 1896 masterpiece, La Bohéme is a powerful, riveting
and faithful rendition of the opera’s original performance. Despite being more
than one century old, the realistic tale of truncated love between poor poet
Rodolfo, played by Ramón Vargas, and Mimi, portrayed by Angela Gheorghiu, remains
as relevant and touching as ever.
This is, in no small part, due to the
realistic portrayals of Puccini’s characters that are designed to stand the
test of time thanks to their sophisticatedly human nature. Franco Zeffirelli
leads the production that does justice to the composer’s grand ideals, while
giving enough room for the artistic and expressive interpretation of conductor
Nicola Luisotti.
The performance itself benefits from
the sweeping changes of tempo that Luisotti employs to great effect in characterizing
the varying tones of the principal performers. These changes allow for realistic
performances, especially on the terms of the friendship and the love between
Rodolfo and Mimi.
The opera itself is a perfect example
of Puccini’s particular verismo style, which is characterized by a
highly realistic narrative format that distances itself from the fantastic
stories that remained the staple of Romantic period classical music for at
least a century prior.
La Bohéme tells the story of four poor creationists
living in 19th century Paris. The poet of the group, Rodolfo, falls in love
with a mysterious, pure-hearted girl who comes to their home looking for
matches in the night they are to celebrate the musician Schaunard’s good
fortune.
After promptly falling in love with
one another, Mimi decides to accompany the four to the Quartier Latin. As the two revel in their newfound
love, Marcello warns them of his past heartbreak, which comes into the
spotlight once the group enter the Cafe Momus and see his lost love Musetta
with a boring, rich old man.
After Musetta charms Marcello by
engaging in varying degrees of histrionic behavior, the six of them leave
together while pushing the bill onto Musetta’s rich date. This concludes the
first two acts, and the last two show Rodolfo, months later, claiming to have
pushed Mimi away for her infidelity and flirtatiousness.
Upon being pressed to explain this to
Marcello and Musetta, he admits that she is actually sick with tuberculosis and
that he wants to see her marry a rich man so that she can afford medicine to
stay alive. Mimi, hiding nearby, gives a telltale cough and the discovered
couple embraces.
The two decide to stay together until
next spring, when it is shown that Mimi left the wealthy viscount who became her
patron in order to pursue her love with Rodolfo, which ends up costing her
life. The opera ends with Rodolfo dramatically crying out Mimi’s name over her
body, in a touching moment that serves as the climax of the performance.
The most distinctive feature of this
particular performance of La Bohéme is to be found in the use of
multiple tempi to distinguish between characters, their respective moods and
the means by which the interplay of those elements distinguish the action of
the narrative.
One example is to be found in the
sensuous reduction that precedes Musetta’s Waltz in Act II: Quando Me’n Vo’ Soletta Per La Via, in
particular. This performance is highlighted, especially in the beginning
movement, by a sweeping tempo drop that focuses all of the musical attention on
Ainhoa Arteta’s red-dressed interpretation of Musetta.
The drop in tempo, as well as its
gradual increase that parallels the growing annoyance and aggravation of
Marcello, reaches its highest point when the latter's name is actually mentioned,
before lowering again and raising to the same point at Marcello’s and Musetta’s
duet at the end.
This was a deliberate and well-planned
move by conductor Luisotti to show the fervor of their feelings for one another
and the relevance of her desire to leave her old lover in place of Marcello.
It should be noted that, in the
interpretations offered by other conductors of the same piece, it is rare that
this particular series of tempo changes occurs in the way that it is shown in
the Metropolitan Opera performance. Luisotti used this to great effect
throughout the opera to complement the character’s individual personalities.
In discussing the dynamics between the
characters, it is necessary to more completely introduce the principal lead
Rodolfo, played by Mexican tenor Ramón Vargas, who represents the most powerful
and charismatic voice in the group.
His presence onstage is benefitted by
a quick upswing in tempo that serves to show Rodolfo’s character as a man of
impetus and action. By comparison, all of the character’s interactions with his
colleagues occur at relatively slower tempos, demonstrating the character’s
sensitivity to the feelings of others, which is a very important element to
understanding the motives behind his actions.
This is most powerfully apparent in
Act III’s Mimi E Tanto Malata, in which Rodolfo explains that he had
hidden the real motive for his decision to leave Mimi in order to spare the
feelings of those around him and to get her the medical attention that she
needs.
The opening phrase of the piece,
naturally, occurs in the slowest tempo within the act before quickly rising up
to a conversational pace. Despite the relatively icy response that he elicits
from Angela Georghiu’s Mimi, whose over-exaggerated and melodramatic performance
dispels the necessary suspension of disbelief, the tempi used in their
interactions serves to bring the two characters together in a believable
fashion.
The level of realism that this endows
the performance with easily makes up for Georghiu’s shortcomings; despite being
described in the program material as the leading Puccini soprano in the world-
a distinction that she does not seem to deserve.
Puccini’s La Bohéme was a
highly rewarding experience and one that was as educational as it was
enlightening to the spirit. The depth of imagery offered by the production and
the camaraderie between the principal characters gives it a unique touch that
is further embellished by the sweeping changes of tempo employed by conductor
Nicola Luisotti.
The most surprising elements of the
opera performance were the realization of Georghiu’s status as a classically
over-hyped singer who does not deliver the warmth and realism of her counterparts,
and the depth of vibrancy of Vargas’ interpretation of Rodolfo.
The decision to transpose Rodolfo’s
famous aria Che Gelida Manina such that it peaks at a high B instead of
the much-needed high C was also a less-than-welcome surprise to a piece that
Puccini is known to have conceptualized in an almost Wagnerian style of
through-composition.
In all other matters regarding the
orchestration, tonality, tempi and other artistic choices that are made evident
through the performance, it is one that definitely earns its merit as an
excellent and lasting testament to the great Italian master and to the world of
opera at large.
