La Bohème, Met, New York 20. Feb 2010

Anna Netrebko returned yesterday to the Metroplitan Opera House of New York to sing the first out of nine performances of the classical Zeffirelli's production of Puccini's "La Bohème", which run from 20. February 2010 to 20. March 2010.

The cast was led by Anna Netrebko as Mimi and Piotr Beczala as Rodolfo. Nicole Cabell was Musetta, Gerald Finley was Marcello, Massimo Cavaletti, making his Met debut, was Schaunard, Shenyang was Colline and Paul Plishka was Benoit/Alcindoro. Marco Armiliato conducted the Chrorus and Opera of the Metropolitan Opera.

La Bohème
Music by Giacomo Puccini
Text in Italian by Giuseppe Giacosa und Luigi Illica, based on Henry Murger's novel "Scènes de la Vie de Bohème"

Metropolitan Opera House, New York 20. Feb 2010

Production
Production: Franco Zeffirelli
Set designer: Franco Zeffirelli
Costume designer: Peter J. Hall
Lighting designer: Gil Wechsler
Stage director: J. Knighten Smit

Cast
Mimi: Anna Netrebko
Musetta: Nicole Cabell
Rodolfo: Piotr Beczala
Marcello: Gerald Finley
Schaunard: Massimo Cavalletti
Colline: Shen Yang
Benoît: Paul Plishka
Alcindoro: Paul Plishka
Parpignol: Daniel Clark Smith
Sergeant: Jason Hendrix
Officer: Joseph Turi

Musical Direction: Marco Armiliato
Chorus and Orchestra of the Metropolitan Opera

About the Opera
Opera Background
Characters
About the Composer
Story and Music
Synopsis

Reviews
Ed Rosen, owner of Premiere Opera, attended the premiere and he wrote the following review of the performance:

I thought tonight at the Met was one of the very best Bohème performances I have seen in many, many years.

I thought the sheer opulence of the voices of both Netrebko and Beczala was both thrilling and beautiful. I think this was the finest performance Netrebko has sung at the Met, and, as I seem to say every year, her voice simply gets bigger year after year, with no pushing at all. And she sang a very dynamically nuanced Mimi. Her Act 3 was indeed heartbreaking.

I thought Beczala was excellent in ever way. This Rodolfo as sung tonight can stand with his head held high with any tenor I have ever heard in this role, and that is virtually ever tenor who has sung it at the Met for the past 50 years. Perhaps the only tenor I have heard in the past 30 plus years who might have been better was José Carreras in 1975. For me, Beczala was superb in every way. He sang the aria in key, with a soaring, easy high C, which he simply held and held. He also sang the C at the end of the love duet, and both he and Netrebko were wonderful here, as in just about everything they sang tonight. He sings with great feeling, some lovely soft singing, and even a small tear in the voice when called for on a few notes. The voice is beautiful and has an ample bronzelike quality to help it project. For him, and his Mimi, the Met seemed like a small theater.

Netrebko was stunning vocally and visually, and from my seat did not look pregnant, as has been reported in some circles. She may well be, but she certainly doesn't appear to be. She looked gorgeous, and sang ravishingly.

I liked all the men. The Schaunard was making his debut, and had a rich, lovely baritone voice, and the Colline was also fine, though I thought he sounded more like a baritone than a basso. Finley was perhaps the finest Marcello I can remember. What a luxury to have a really excellent baritone in this role.

Cabell was only adequate, IMO. She sounded a bit weak at times, and somewhat inaudible in the middle and lower range.

Armiliato was the excellent and indulgent conductor. He really let the tenor and soprano set their tempi in their Act 1 arias, but he knows the Italian style, and was a great virtue tonight.

I am glad I have tickets to the next two performances, and can't wait to see them. I thought tonight was the best night of opera I have seen at the Met this season, and for many seasons.

By Ed Rosen

Howard and his wife Paula, also spent an exciting weekend in New York attending three opera performances at the Met, including the premiere of La Bohème. Howard kindly wrote the following review for the blog:

There is nothing like live performances. My wife, Paula and I had an opera marathon this past weekend at MET starting with Juan Diego Florez and Diana Damrau in La Fille de Regiment. Although the pre-concert announcement said that Florez had a cold, he agreed to sing. He hit 8 of 9 high C's in Les Amis. The audience collectively gasped at the error, but served him with a glowing ovation for this heroic effort. His lyrical aria in the 2nd act left people speechless in its poignancy. Diana Damrau was simply stunning with clear coloratura, comedic acting and a great match for Florez. Damrau's voice is far more pleasing than Natalie Dessay in same role last year. Damrau has a wonderful talent to deliver well-balanced comedic acting along with great style and panache.

Saturday matinee was Ariadne auf Naxos and was wonderful with its staging and character. Kathleen Kim, a Korean soprano, was simply delightful as Zerbineta with graceful soaring coloratura and impish playful acting.

The highlight for us was of course La Boheme. I agree completely with Ed Rosen with a few additional comments. I had also heard the rumors of Netrebko's pregnancy from the regular "groupies" at the MET. It does not matter for me as Ms. Netrebko acted and sang with incredible passion and luster. Nor was it evidently visible in the rather loose fitting peasant frock. Her voice has in fact grown fuller, perhaps more Slavic but with great depth and resonance. The Zefirelli production puts the actors and actresses far from the stage at times. For both Netrebko and Beczala this was not a problem at all.

The 2nd act at the cafe was simply only something that can be done at the MET- masses of people, a cart drawn by a donkey and a horse drawn carriage. Nicole Cabell's Musetta was ample, but really lacked character. I have never really taken to her vocal character or abilities to deliver a stunning performance.

The conducting by Marco Armillato was refreshing, but the first act had the orchestra quite slow, perhaps to compensate or allow Anna and Piotr to draw out the long lyrical lines. At times, it became somewhat out of synch with the singers.

Beczala has an incredibly large and sweet voice. This Rodolfo was sung as well as going back to the days of Pavarotti and Mirella Freni in these signature roles.

One only had to witness the 4th act to understand the accolades earned by this performance. Both Anna and Piotr sung their hearts out. The quiet parts were filled with tension, drama and expectation. Beczala did not over-sing his grief at the end when he has realized that Mimi has in fact, died.

Owning the DVD with Netrebko and Villazon and watching it many times, only leads me to reinforce what a stunning live performance we witnessed. The DVD (filmed, lip-synched version) is tacky, overly melodramatic and has some far-fetched stage props like a swing in Rodolfo’s bedroom. Villazon simply over-sings the role, especially in the last dying scene. The filmed version does not do either the performers or the opera justice.

It was simply a joy to see a wonderful melding of singing, drama and music rolled up into a joyous package. To our delight, this was a sold-out performance with many young children, teenagers and young adults in the audience. People sitting near us came from Cardiff and we met a gentleman outside who came from Cincinnati. Peter Gelb has set out a mission to gather the best talent and has certainly succeeded with this performance.

Reflecting on this, one can see the growth in Netrebko's voice and it seems like this type of dramatic role similar to Capulet’s and Montecchi are well suited to her voice. She is a supreme actress who obviously takes great pride in her art. She is always very well prepared and delivers beyond expectations.

What a utter joy for us to witness and cherish for years to come. I only regret that this will not be simulcast, but I understand a radio broadcast will be made next Saturday.

On-line Press Reviews
[1] Netrebko, Beczala a Winning Couple in 'La Boheme' | The New York Times | By Ronald Blum, The Associated Press | 21. February 2010 [English]
[2] The Gang’s All Here: Mimi, Rodolfo and Zeffirelli | The New York Times | By Anthony Tommasini | 21. February 2010 [English]
[3] Great artistry at Met | New York Post | By James Jorden | 22. February 2010 [English]

Photos

Broadcasts
The performances on 24., 27. February and 2., 10., 17. March will be broadcast live on the Metropolitan Opera Radio on Sirius channel 78 and XM channel 79. The Saturday matinee performance on 27. February will also be broadcast live over the Toll Brothers-Metropolitan Opera International Radio Network. The performances on 24. February and 10. March will be streamed live via RealNetworks internet streaming on the Met website.

Related Posts
La Bohème, Metropolitan Opera, New York 20. Feb 2010-20. Mar 2010