Giacomo PUCCINI (1858 - 1924)
La bohème (1896)
Roland Wood (baritone) - Marcello; Alfie Boe (tenor) - Rodolfo; Pauls Putnins
(bass) - Colline; David Stout (baritone) - Schaunard; Simon Butteriss (bass)
- Benoit; Melody Moore (soprano) - Mimi; Philip Daggett (tenor) - Parpignol;
Hanan Alattar (soprano) - Musetta; Richard Angas (bass) - Alcindoro; Christopher
Ross (bass) - Policeman; Andrew Tinkler (bass) - Official
English National Opera Orchestra and Chorus/Miguel Harth-Bedoya
Director: Jonathan Miller; Designer: Isabella Bywater; Stage Lighting: Jean
Kalman
Television director: Robin Lough
rec. London Coliseum, 4 February 2009
NTCS 16:9; Colour; L-PCM Stereo + 5.1 Surround Sound
NVC ARTS (WARNER) 50-51865-9489-2-6 [120:00]
Jonathan Miller’s production for the London Coliseum places the action
of La bohème in Paris of the 1920s. This was a period when painters,
authors and composers flocked to the French capital. Murger’s artists
were hardly in the same league as the great names that roamed the streets
or tippled wine in the bars, but they are well depicted in the libretto and
Miller has managed - with the assistance of good achievements from the cast
- to give the characters personalities. Simon Butteriss’s Benoit in
the first act is a masterly portrait and Pauls Putnins’ Colline becomes
something much more than the rather anonymous philosopher who normally is
remembered for his short coat aria in the last act.
The sets are realistic, almost naturalistically detailed. The artists’
attic, in the first and last acts, is up high with a visible staircase leading
up to the apartment, so the audience can see the characters well in advance
before they actually enter the flat. Café Momus is packed with visitors,
all of them well chiselled out individuals while the wintry third act is subdued
in colours, giving an impression of a 1920s movie. It is cold, and Mimi stamps
her feet and shivers while she waits for Marcello to come out. It is also
terribly cold in the first act, Rodolfo wrapped up in a blanket while Marcello
wears jersey gloves to be able to work with his lithograph. Since muffs were
out of fashion Musetta gets Mimi a pair of gloves instead in the last act.
This is just one example of clever adjustment. It is an uncommonly vivid production
that never slackens for a moment.
The singing also by and large is worthy of the production. Roland Wood’s
Marcello is rather shaky but Alfie Boe has an attractive voice - and he is
a lively actor - though the tone isn’t very Italianate. Latvian Pauls
Putnins lends warmth to the coat aria and Hanan Alattar’s charismatic
Musetta stole the show completely at Café Momus. Her voice is rather
fuller than many lyric sopranos in this role but it suits her perfectly.
The real star of the performance is however Melody Moore as Mimi. In sharp
contrast to Ms Alattar’s bold and outgoing Musetta she is mild and vulnerable,
perfectly suited to the role of the little seamstress. Her voice, a lirico-spinto
of rare beauty with power in reserve for the big utterances and sensitive
to the soft nuances as well, should, if there is any justice in this world,
take her to the top of the trade.
There is room for many different approaches to this immortal opera and Jonathan
Miller’s view is fully valid though hardly ground-breaking. I found
it wholly attractive and the television director Robin Lough manages to convey
a sense of being there at the Coliseum. For this and for the singing of the
two sopranos this is a set that is worth owning.
Göran Forsling
A sense of being there at the Coliseum. A set that is worth owning.