Giacomo PUCCINI (1858-1924)
La bohème (1893-95)
Mimì – Sonya Yoncheva
Rodolfo – Charles Castronovo
Marcello – Andrzej Filończyk
Musetta – Simona Mihai
Colline – Peter Kellner
Schaunard – Gyula Nagy
Benoît – Jeremy White
Parpignol – Andrew Macnair
Alcindoro – Eddie Wade
Customs Officer – John Morrissey
Sergeant – Thomas Barnard
Tiffin Boys’ Choir and Children’s Chorus
Chorus and Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden/Emmanuel Villaume
Richard Jones - Director
Stewart Laing - Set and Costume Designer
Mimi Jordan Sherin - Lighting Designer
Sarah Fahie - Movement Director
Jonathan Haswell – Filming director
Rec. live, 29 January 2020, Royal Opera House, Covent Garden
Audio: LPCM 2.0, DTS Digital surround (reviewed in stereo)
Video: NTSC, all regions, DVD-9 double-layer disc
Extras: Why the Royal Opera love performing La bohème; Sir Antonio Pappano discusses the music of La bohème
Subtitles: English, French, German, Japanese, Italian
Synopsis but no libretto provided
OPUS ARTE OA1332D DVD [129 mins]
This is the first opera recording that I have reviewed for MWI. I’m not a prolific opera-goer or listener, but La bohème is special. It is one of only two operas, Figaro being the other, that I will happily listen to in full, without simply skipping through to the big arias. I had recently listened to a BBC Radio 4 documentary – Following Pappano - about this new Covent Garden production, so when this recording seemed as though it wasn’t going to be selected by any of my experienced opera-reviewing colleagues, I volunteered my services.
I say “new production” but this early 2020 performance is in fact the third time that Richard Jones’ production has been staged at Covent Garden, the first being in 2017, with Sir Antonio Pappano (hence the title of the radio programme) conducting. The casts and conductor have been different for each run. For those who do not like “updated” productions taking the staging and sets out of their intended place and time, rest assured that this is definitely late 19th century Paris, and Mimì does die of consumption.
Colin Clarke has reviewed this performance (or at least one of the 2020 run) for Seen and Heard and was generally very positive. Jim Pritchard and Mark Berry were generally less complimentary, especially about the sets and staging, in their reviews of the 2017 and 2018 seasons. Bob Farr and Dave Billinge reviewed the Blu-ray release of the first (Pappano) season with very different opinions.
The two leads, Sonya Yoncheva and Charles Castronovo, are new to me, but that is simply because my normal listening/viewing choice is not of opera/aria recitals. Each has a significant portfolio of recordings and opera roles on stage. They can, to state the obvious, certainly sing, but I was unconvinced by their acting skills, finding little or no spark in their interactions. Act I should be among the most romantic and stirring in all opera, yet I found myself unmoved. The soaring vocal and orchestral lines in O soave fanciulla
when time seems to stand still and you should be overwhelmed by the passion,
struggling to catch your breath, I felt very little. That surely isn’t
right. I didn’t find a warmth in either of their voices, and when I went
back to the versions I know best – Freni/Pavarotti and Netrebko/Villazon –
the difference was chalk and cheese. I found it ironic that the most
convincingly emotional singing by each was in Act III when they weren’t
singing together, but rather with Marcello. Of the supporting cast, Andrzej
Filończyk (Marcello) and Simona Mihai (Musetta) are very good, and I thought that Filończyk outdid Castronovo in Act IV, when the two are singing about their lost loves.
The orchestral contributions are elegant, delicate and passionate as required. Emmanuel Villaume adopts a relatively sedate tempo in most places, the entire work taking a little under two hours, which is significantly slower than Pappano’s, for example. Perhaps it was the effect of listening in stereo rather than surround, but at times, I rather lost the orchestra.
I will have to disagree with some of my colleagues regarding their opinion of Richard Jones’ production as I believe that the sets are undoubtedly the best parts of the show. They are quite wonderful, very evocative, and the snow that even falls before the opening curtain sets the scene. The artists’ garret is appropriately spartan, though would they really not even have had a single mattress between the four of them? All the stops are pulled out for Act II, where we have three beautifully lit Parisian arcades, a very elegant Café Momus and finally an arcade of streetlights for the marching band to pass along. The tavern and courtyard in Act III perhaps require the least work in design, but are still very effective.
That said, I feel that going to the opera (even by the medium of video) and being most impressed by the sets is rather like going to an art gallery, and thinking the frames were the best part.
I did have some reservations about a few aspects of the staging. In Act I, when Mimì enters the garret and collapses – and this was no gentle swoon, but a full hit-the-floor-with-a-thump collapse – Rodolfo’s response is to prod her behind with his foot. In Act II (and I don’t think that I’m being prudish) when Musetta is standing on the café table singing about her beauty and desirability to provoke Marcello, was it really necessary for her to remove her frilly knickers and drop them on his head? Finally, when the four artists are back in the garret at the start of the final act, what purpose does it serve for them to scrawl charcoal drawings of naked women, complete with pubic hair, all over the walls?
As one would expect from a 2020 production, the image quality is very good, but I have mentioned my struggles at times to hear the orchestra properly. The director of the film does a good job in mixing closeups of the soloists and wider angles of the entire stage. The booklet doesn’t attempt too much, but one is hardly starved for information about the history of this work, so that doesn’t really matter. The extras are two shorts, one featuring the singers, conductor and backstage people talking about the opera and performing/staging it, the other, Sir Antonio Pappano talking about the musical ideas in the opera. In each case, their brevity – less than five minutes - makes them seem almost token.
Ultimately the success of La bohème is tied to Mimì and Rodolfo. If their romance and tragedy doesn’t convince, then no matter how impressive the sets and the supporting cast are, the overall result can’t be deemed a success, and sadly that is the case here.
David Barker
