Giacomo PUCCINI (1858-1924)
La bohčme (1869) (sung in English)
Alfie Boe (tenor) - Rodolfo; Melody Moore (soprano) - Mimě; Roland Wood (baritone)
- Marcello; Hanan Alattar (soprano) - Musetta; David Stout (baritone) - Schaunard;
Pauls Putninš (bass-baritone) - Colline; Richard Angas (bass) - Alcindoro;
Simon Butteriss (baritone) - Benoit; Philip Daggett (tenor) - Parpignol; Christopher
Ross (bass) - Policeman; Andrew Tinkler (bass) – Official
English National Opera Chorus and Orchestra/Miguel Harth-Bedoya.
NTSC 16:9, Region 0, LPSM Stereo 5.1, Surround Sound.
rec. live, London Coliseum, 4 February 2009.
WARNER/NVC ARTS 50-51865-9489-2-6 [120:00]
Having seen the most recent revival
of Jonathan Miller’s production at the Coliseum, it is good to find that it
has been preserved in the DVD medium. Much of the cast is the same – perhaps
the most significant change is Alfie Boe in the role of Rodolfo - Boe in fact
reprises the role later in the current run. Comments on the anonymity of the
staging remain - there is nothing concrete to link this to Paris. Yet seeing
it again acts as a reminder that the bleak opening to the third act, a celebration
of greys, works extremely well given the emotional subject matter at that
point. It is in the first two acts particularly that the production comes
up short, in the second because of overcrowding.
Boe’s voice is rather small and yet the timbre is pleasing in the middle register;
up top it becomes rather more edgy. He is however constantly in the shadow
of his Marcello, the excellent Roland Wood, both in vocal and in acting terms.
The first scene of the opera, seen in the flat against a rather anonymous
rooftop-scape, works because the conductor, Miguel Harth-Bedoya shapes it
so intelligently. He underplays the orchestral underscoring of Benoit’s arrival,
however. Boe and Roland Wood exchange well, and the four men provide a persuasive
case of the bohemian life. Simon Butteriss is greatly comedic as the landlord
Benoit - he looks remarkably like George of George and Mildred. It
is the Colline, though, Pauls Putninš, that carries the greatest stage presence.
Harth-Bedoya’s strength lies in projecting the long-range trajectory of scenes.
He succeeds again in Act 2, where the long scene with Musetta in the Café
Momus rises to a splendid and inevitable conclusion. The orchestra is well-drilled,
too - more so than in the recent run at ENO under Stephen Lord. The detail
in the final stages of the boys’ games in the final act, just prior to Musetta’s
entrance, is most impressive.
Melody Moore sings Mimě. Her portrayal of a shy girl in the opera’s initial
phase is rather affecting; a pity Boe is rather rigid in comparison (“Your
tiny hand is frozen”). Moore’s answer to Boe’s aria (“I’m always called Mimě”)
is creamy-voiced and yet has a core of fragile innocence running through it.
Her high register is pure and her pitching is well-placed. Her scenes with
Marcello at the onset of Act 3 are convincing and emotionally poignant; again,
she throws Boe into shadow, as her final death throes of Act 4 are remarkably
sustained against Boe’s rather more studied, learned-by-rote responses.
Pauls Putninš is memorable as Colline. His voice is large, he portrays a most
jovial personality and yet can bring poignancy to his role, too. His “Veccia
zimarra” is one of the high points of the performance.
Close-up camera work avoids the feeling of an over-crowded stage that is the
case in the opera house itself. The Charlie Chaplin Parpignol is a nice touch,
while Hanan Alattar absolutely looks the part of a coquettish temptress, Musetta.
Alattar excels vocally, too – I would like to see and hear more of her. The
experienced Richard Angas is also firmly in character as Alcindoro. Overall
this remains a mixed Bohčme. Worth preserving, to be sure, but it should
by no means be anyone’s single version in their collection.
Documentation is minimal and disappointing. We are provided with a single
sheet which includes cast and synopsis, and that’s it.
Worth preserving, to be sure, but should by no means be anyone’s single version in their collection.