(l-r) Dimitri Pittas as Rodolfo, Grazia Doronzio as Mimì, Joyce El-Khoury as Musetta and Joshua Hopkins as Marcello. Photo: Michael Cooper
Reviewed by James
Karas
The Canadian Opera Company provides a traditional production (that is a
compliment) of Puccini’s La Bohème at Toronto’s Four Seasons
Centre for the Performing Arts. Its strengths are a well sung Mimi (Grazia
Doronzio) and Marcello (Joshua Hopkins), fine directing by John Caird. The set
design is very good except for the first act and the orchestral playing is sound.
I doubt that there were too many tears streaming down the cheeks of the
audience but most people rightly enjoyed a viewing of the old weepie.
Italian soprano Doronzio appeared small and frail just as one would
imagine Mimi to be. Her voice emanated from her like a flower captured in
time-lapse photography. She would start slowly and tentatively as in “Mi
chiamano, Mimi” and then her voice would blossom and become evocative, full of
emotion and a delight to hear.
Her lover Rodolfo, sung by American tenor Dimitri Pittas was good but
not as successful as Doronzio’s portrayal. The two worked well in their first
act love duet “O suave fanciulla” but he was not always consistent in his
singing. Pittas sounds fine in mid-range but his voice sounded strained at
times in the upper register. Otherwise, he made a believable Rodolfo but
unfortunately, his despairing cry of “Mimi! Mimi!” at the end of the opera was
simply lost. I am not sure if it was a miscommunication between singer and
conductor but the heart-wrenching shout simply misfired.
Canadian baritone Joshua Hopkins sang an exceptional Marcello. His fine,
sonorous voice and sympathetic portrayal of the painter stood out and was a
pleasure to watch.
Caird directed the four starving artists (the other two being
bass-baritone Christian Van Horn as the philosopher Colline and baritone
Phillip Addis as the musician Schaunard) very judiciously, providing humour and
drama, and making them believable. The friends engage in tomfoolery and a
pranks against their landlord Benoit and Alcindoro, Musetta’s foolish admirer
(both played by Thomas Hammons), all done in good form and adding a fine
balance to the tragic love story.
La Bohéme needs three sets: a scene in a garret where
the artists live and work; a crowded street scene in the Latin Quarter and
scene on a snowy morning outside a tavern on the outskirts of Paris. Set and
Costume Designer David Farley has chosen to decorate the garret with a large
number of overlapping canvases covering most of the rear stage. The set looks
like a large storage garage instead of a cold attic. The smoke coming out of
the stove in the centre of the room is a nice touch but aside from that, there
is nothing to convince as that this is an attic.
The set does have the advantage of being convertible quickly into a
street scene. Some of the canvasses are
hoisted up to the rafters, the other are turned around and in a matter of
seconds we are at the Café Momus celebrating Christmas Eve. The first act is
not particularly long and the quick set change saves us the trouble of having
to wait long for entertaining second act.
The Café Momus scene is done well with a boisterous crowd, a fine
rendition of “Quando me’n vo” by Musetta (soprano Joyce El-Khoury) in a
beautiful and provocative pink gown. There is a lot going on in this scene and
Caird manages the whole thing with expertize. (There will be a cast change near
the end of the run and El-Khoury will sing Mimi for the last four
performances.)
Carlo Rizzi conducts the Canadian Opera Company Orchestra and Chorus as
well as the Children’s Chorus which makes a lively appearance in Act II.
Caird He handles the entire production from the intimate love scenes to
the crowd tableaux soundly in this well-done production with its several issues.
If only we were not cheated of the heart-wrenching “Mimi! Mimi!”
_____
La Bohème by Giacomo Puccini with libretto by Giuseppe
Giacosa and Luigi Illica opened on October 3 and will be performed twelve times
on various dates until October 30, 2013 at the Four Seasons Centre for the
Performing Arts, 145 Queen Street West, Toronto,
Ontario. Tel: 416-363-6671. www.coc.ca
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