‘La Boheme’ rises above shortcomings
It would be easy to dwell on the shortcomings of the Teatro Lirico d’Europa’s touring production of Puccini’s “La Boheme,’’ which opened for a short run at the Cutler Majestic Theatre on Friday. There was the barely adequate orchestra (imported from Bulgaria, where the company originates), the supertitles (placed high above the stage, with frustrating timing gaps), the sets (minimal) and lighting (yellowish and bright, unusual for winter in Paris). How could the performance be such a delight?
Most of the credit must go to Puccini, who wrote a score that celebrates youth, vigor, and fun in brilliant ensemble writing and scene painting - with pauses for soaring solo melodies by those adorable free-lovers of the Left Bank: the seamstress Mimi and her poet-lover Rodolfo, his best friend, cynical Marcello, and his occasional girlfriend, Musetta, worldly Schaunard, and gloomy Colline. The music is frolicsome and impetuous in the first and second acts, then turns melancholy and reflective. Finally, as Mimi’s death by consumption approaches, everyone grows up quickly and shows true devotion and kindness in her last hour.
We hear all the great early melodies again in the last act, and, lest any eye be dry, Rodolfo pulls out the bonnet he had bought for Mimi in Act I. There are many subtleties, too. When Musetta rushes into the garret in the last act, announcing that Mimi is deathly ill, the crashing chord and screaming strings tell us the world has changed. And one remembers the dissonant arrival in Act I of Benoit to claim the rent, amid similar games. This time, death is at the door, and he will not be put off.
The Cutler Majestic is an ideal size for this opera, and it was a pleasure to see and hear these characters close-up. Elena Razgylaeva, as Mimi, is beautiful and moves with dignified shyness. Her big, round voice soared into the climaxes. What she lacks is a half-voice and the ability to float the tone - something she needed, for example, on the last phrase of her Act III aria, on the words, “senza rancor.’’ The Rodolfo, Orlin Goranov, sang and acted with a natural ease. “Che gelida manina’’ was a bit of conversation, and his half-sung, half-spoken reassurances to dying Mimi were among many nice touches.
Among the other fine singer-actors were Marian Jovanovsky as a rich-toned Marcello and Snejana Dramcheva as an over-the-top Musetta. Hristo Sarafov did fine comic turns as Benoit and Alcindoro. Their conviction, solid voices, and excellent diction made one forget many of the shortcomings of the production.
