La bohème brings passion to an exalted romance

March 10, 2010

By Brad Richason

Twin Cities Performance Art Examiner

As one of the most frequently produced operas in the world, Italian composer Giacomo Puccini's La bohème has proven an exceptionally influential work. Most famously, Jonathan Larson's enormously successful musical Rent was designed largely as a contemporary version. Even those audience members that have somehow remained oblivious to La bohème are likely to find much of the storyline strikingly familiar thanks to the basic plot points being recycled time and time again for romantic comedies and dramas. Such well-worn conventions, however, simply makes it all the more impressive that the latest production from The Minnesota Opera carries such sublimely resounding emotional depth.

Inspired by La vie bohèmienne, author Henry Murger's collected tales of the lives of starving artists in the Latin Quarter of 19th century Paris, Puccini collaborated with librettists Giuseppe Giacosa and Luigia Illica on a work that would come to define tragic romance in the bohemian world. La bohème focuses on two impoverished friends, a poet named Rodolfo and a painter named Marcello. Living on the fringes of society, the two men are content to pursue art for art's sake, pausing only long enough to lament the cruel capriciousness of love. Both men's resolve against affection, however, will be shaken by the influence of two women; Marcello will resist the charms of his former love, the flirtatious Musetta, while a chance encounter finds Rodolfo vainly denying his passion for the pure-hearted, but physical ailing seamstress Mimì.

While on paper the storyline might initially appear lightweight, the infusion of Puccini's soaring score elevates the work into the rarified heights of high romance. From the very first act, Puccini showcases a thrilling versatility of tone, deftly moving from comedic levity to amorous rapture with each seamlessly shifting passage. Masterfully conducted by Emmanuel Joel-Hornak, Puccini's layered score resists any leaden trappings, keeping the work engaging and vivacious, even while delving into the fickle remonstrations of unyielding desire.

As is the standard practice for opera productions, two separate casts alternate each performance. On the evening reviewed, the audience was treated to the exemplary chemistry of tenor James Valenti as Rodolfo, soprano Ellie Dehn as Mimì, baritone Hyung Yun as Marcello, and soprano Karin Wolverton as Musetta. Through the rich blend of each adeptly tuned vocal, a cascading rhythm is achieved, one that carries the production with propulsive force. Such skill is displayed with especially moving grace in the third act's gripping confrontation between lovers, as Marcello and Musetta bitterly spar while Rodolfo and Mimì reconcile. It's an utterly exalted moment, one pounding with the vulnerable pathos at the heart of the work.

Stage director Justin Way emphasizes the energetic verve of the work by keeping the performers in fluid motion, slowing only for the most affecting pauses. Set and lighting designer Marcus Dilliard also provides tremendous assistance in sustaining the mood, using a deft composition of lighting to underscore the tone of each act.

Further immersion into this bohemian world is crafted by the remarkably detailed original set design of Robert Brill which carries the action from the squalid confines of a ramshackle bachelor pad to the crowded bustle of a Parisian street. Costume designer Jennifer Caprio maintains the illusion with a display of threadbare period attire perfectly consistent with the characters' frayed existence.

Make no mistake, the lives depicted in La bohème are those of common persons, far removed from the outsized personas so often represented in operatic works. And yet, it is precisely the commonness of the characters that makes their emotional grandiosity so profound. As this deftly mounted production clearly understands, passion continues to transcend all social order.

La bohème runs through 03/14.

A dark but moving "La Bohème" at the Minnesota Opera

March 08, 2010
By Becca Mitchell
TC Daily Planet

There's no denying La Bohème is one of the world's most famous operas. Giacomo Puccini's 1896 opera is staged frequently across the globe and was the inspiration for the Tony-winning musical Rent, which ran for more than 12 years on Broadway and was just staged in an acclaimed Minneapolis production. One could argue it's the love story at the center of the piece that's contributed the most to the opera's lasting resonance. And on that level, if not on all levels, the current Minnesota Opera production delivers.

Due to the rigorous vocal demands of the score, the Opera is using two sets of rotating casts to tell the story of poor artists in 19th century France. At Sunday's matinée Adam Diegel as the poet Rodolfo and Jennifer Black as the seamstress Mimi were in fine form. Both are able to capture a subtle innocence that make their immediate attraction and instant proclamation of love as believable as can be expected. Tenor Diegel exquisitely controls tender moments, but also displays a powerful voice in moments of passion. As the doomed Mimi, Black is equally emotive and vocally strong with her soprano voice.

And while Rodolfo and Mimi are the opera's core couple, there's an equally intriguing relationship between fellow artists Marcello and Musetta. This pairing brings needed humor to the piece and is done great justice by performers Peter Barrett and Naomi Isabel Ruiz, respectively. Bartett's baritone is wonderfully soothing and loud, and he has a flawless aptitude for physical comedy. Ruiz's Musetta is a careful balance between annoying flirt and caring confidante.

Stage director Justin Way successfully captures moments of humor between friends Rodolfo and Marcello, as well as between on-again, off-again lovers Marcello and Musetta. He also keeps the pace light and the action moving during scenes that have the potential to be stale. Unfortunately, that action is often juxtaposed against Robert Brill's sets (the current production is a remounting of the Minnesota Opera's 1996 production). Those sets are dark and feature looming buildings, which help foreshadow the coming tragedy but do little to highlight the spontaneous and flirty nature of the characters. Instead, they imprison the actors within drab settings as if to further torture them for their lack of fortune.

I was particularly disappointed with the design after having seeing Baz Luhrmann's 2002 staging in New York. Whereas Brill's sets portray a gloom-and-doom atmosphere, Luhrmann's production celebrated Rodolfo and Mimi's romance and the Parisian culture by using a brighter design and moving the action to the 1950s. As opera increasingly becomes thought of as being for an older generation, engaging designs like that in the production I saw in New York can help make opera more accessible to new generations, while adding to and not distracting from the drama.

As I walked into the Ordway's lobby on Sunday I hoped to be as enthralled with this production as I was the first time I saw La Bohème. And though I missed the modernized take, I found the Minnesota Opera's production to be moving. Strong performances combined with Puccini's score continue to make this tragic love story undeniably attractive.

'La Boheme' is all about love, but unlikely to inspire love (of opera)

March 8, 2010
By Rob Hubbard
Special to the Pioneer Pre

Giacomo Puccini's "La Boheme" is the portal that frequently leads to a love of opera. With heart-melting music, a passionate romance and some charming comic repartee, this tale of love among poverty-stricken Parisian artists is one of the world's most frequently performed operas for a reason.

But the Minnesota Opera's current production - which opened Saturday at St. Paul's Ordway Center - doesn't give off enough romantic heat to make up for the libretto's paucity of plot. Despite some strong voices and colorful characters, what could have been a springtime celebration of love instead has a wintry chill to it.

"La Boheme" is so popular that the company is employing two sets of leads and performing it eight times in nine days. But it's likely both casts will fall prey to the decibel levels at which conductor Emmanuel Joel-Hornak keeps the orchestra for much of the performance. Tenor James Valenti has demonstrated a powerful voice in past local productions, but his Rodolfo was too often buried in the mix. Ellie Dehn's Mimi fared better vocally, but projected a spiritless persona quite contrary to the bright light of love Rodolfo describes in his loving arias.

Actually, there were two other tandems onstage Saturday night that proved more compelling than Rodolfo and Mimi. There was a believable bond between Rodolfo and his painter friend, Marcello, as well as between Marcello and his on-again, off-again lover, Musetta. The common denominator in each was Hyung Yun, whose strong, supple baritone voice and confident characterization made Marcello the most interesting character onstage. And Karin Wolverton's Musetta was a well-balanced blend of cattiness and vulnerability, her flirtatious second-act aria a joy.

Director Justin Way did some fine things with the gracefully choreographed scenes of playfulness between Rodolfo, Marcello and their roommates, as well as with the crowd scene on the streets of the Latin Quarter. And Robert Brill's set serves the action well. But a lack of romantic charge at the production's center means it's unlikely to cause operatic neophytes to fall in love with the form.

Rob Hubbard can be reached at rhubbard@pioneerpress.com

What: The Minnesota Opera's production of "La Boheme" by Giacomo Puccini

When: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday

Where: Ordway Center for the Performing Arts, 345 Washington St., St. Paul

Tickets: $150-$20, available at 612-333-6669 or mnopera.org

Capsule: A production that could use more warmth and heat.

Sparkling performances sweep aside a nagging inconsistency in Minnesota Opera's restaging of Bohème.

March 8, 201

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By Rob Hubbard
Special to the Pioneer Press

Say what you will about the shortcomings of monarchy as a governmental system, some of those royals of yore could really knock your eye out with awe-inspiring visuals. The palaces and apparel of Renaissance Europe can be over-the-top ostentatious, but they certainly get your attention.

The same could be said of the Minnesota Opera's production of Gaetano Donizetti's "Roberto Devereux," which transports you to Elizabethan England via an elaborate set and elegant costuming. Thanks to a tour de force performance by Brenda Harris as a stately but vulnerable Queen Elizabeth, it's a worthwhile journey to the era. While one could wish for more movement in its static staging, Donizetti's music shone brightly on Saturday's opening night, thanks to powerful singing and an exceptional performance by the orchestra.

This production launches the Minnesota Opera's three-season commitment to performing all three parts of Donizetti's "Tudor Trilogy," albeit in reverse chronological order. "Roberto Devereux" centers on an aging Elizabeth's devotion to the title character, who is on trial for treason. Her interest in him is chiefly romantic, as is his with her lady-in-waiting, who is married to the queen's main lawman. This romantic quadrangle provides a fine framework for duets and trios, but the solo arias are the showstoppers.

The best are delivered by Harris with an ideal blend of believable emotion and tremendous technique. Hers is an Elizabeth who can simultaneously exude grandeur and weariness from the weight of the job. While Bruno Ribeiro's Roberto offers little to suggest why he's inspired such passion from two women, his final-act prison aria was outstanding.

Lester Lynch carries much of the first act on his powerful baritone as the cuckolded Duke. And Tamara Klivadenko not only brings a rich and dusky tone to his melancholy wife, Sara, but shows depth and subtlety in her acting, bringing some heat to a staging that could use more of it.

The paucity of onstage movement is often ameliorated by Neil Patel's imaginative set design and Jessica Jahn's gowns, which help make Elizabeth a commanding presence.

Brad Richason

Examiner.com

As staged by the Minnesota Opera, the introductory scene of Roberto Devereux instantly captivates by offering brief glimpses of the aged Queen Elizabeth I being bathed, groomed, and dressed by her attendants. When the queen emerges for her court, strikingly attired in a crimson gown, she utterly radiates regal stolidity. The wordless sequence, featuring a stirring blend of evocative lighting set to a dashing score, dramatically announces a figure of imposing elevation, supposedly immune to the trivial emotional travails of common people. And so it becomes especially gripping to experience the operatic pathos wrought when this impassive resolve comes undone by unrequited love.

Roberto Devereux has come to be known as one third of the Tudor trilogy, three operas by Gaetano Donizetti that focus upon the heightened political and personal intrigues of the period. (The other two works, Maria Stuarda and Anna Bolena, will be presented by the Minnesota Opera in coming seasons.) Composed in traditional Bel Canto style with an Italian libretto by Salvadore Cammarano, Roberto Devereux is named after the Earl of Essex, the much younger, alleged love interest of Queen Elizabeth I (or Elisabetta). The intense emotional ranges that Devereux weaved into his composition are justified by a plotline beating with strained desire, an attribute that Minnesota Opera conductor Francesco Maria Colombo highlights with characteristic virtuosity.

As the work opens, Roberto has been accused of treachery to the crown and his fate hinges upon the favor of the queen. Unfortunately for the earl, Elisabetta suspects that Roberto's heart belongs to another. Though he vehemently denies the charge, Roberto has in fact fallen in love with Sara, the Duchess of Nottingham and wife to his friend and sole defender, the Duke of Nottingham. Skeptical of Roberto's claims, the scorned queen resolves to learn the truth of her lover's faithfulness, setting the stage for a classically tragic love triangle.

Soprano Brenda Harris establishes a striking presence as Elisabetta, maintaining the queen's regal bearing even as her tumultuous inner emotions threaten her façade. Her expressive vocals apply a meticulous feeling for each movement, from a lower tone for public duties to the soaring pitch of private anguish. In a warmly humanizing performance, Harris transforms a foreboding historic figure into a vindictive and prideful, but ultimately sympathetic, slave to the crown.

Playing the role of the hapless Roberto is tenor Bruno Ribeiro. Far from a swaggering rogue, Ribeiro finds palpable affection for a man torn between loyalty to his queen and devotion to his lover. Faced with moral consequences for his indiscretions, Ribeiro gives rich voice to soulful pleadings, particularly during Act 1's riveting confrontation with Elisabetta (Nascondi, frena i palpiti).

Watching events emerge from the shadows is Roberto's secret lover Sara, played with vocal finesse by mezzo-soprano Tamara Klivadenko. Baritone Lester Lynch proves a fine match for Klivadenko, turning in a skillfully tuned performance as Sara's husband, the Duke of Nottingham. Individually, but especially together, these two performers are a showcase of poignantly layered delivery.

Stage director Kevin Newbury adheres close to the traditional Bel Canto presentation, allowing the action to unfold primarily through the sweeping orchestration and versatile vocals. That said, the imaginative set design by Neil Patel assists the storytelling by allowing a seamless transformation of the stage. The queen's gilded court, for example, gives way to Sara's humble bedchamber with one swift raise of the backdrop. The set design is so fluid, in fact, that it imposes its own sense of impermanence; a feeling that the instability of these relationships extends to the entire monarchy. When an enormous red cross emerges during the third act, it suggests more than a judgment for Roberto, but a dire pronouncement for the whole court.

Costume designer Jessica Jahn evokes the Tudor period with a richly patterned wardrobe suitable for the regal court. No character's clothing is as grandiose, of course, as that of Elisabetta. But while her opening appearance in a striking red gown (beautifully lit by lighting designer D.M. Wood) gives no doubt of her sovereignty, Elisabetta's attire grows increasingly subdued over the course of the work in reflection of her progressively fraught emotions and exposed humanity.

If hell hath no fury like a woman scored, than an amorously abused queen would be a truly demonic force. And yet the Minnesota Opera has achieved the formidable task of enacting an all-too human tragedy in which all of the characters, no matter how powerful or privileged, are ultimately victims of a desire they can neither understand nor control. No wonder the work still resonates so strongly after all these years.

Roberto Devereux runs through 02/07.

Camille LeFevre

MinnPost.com

For many aficionados of British history on film, our perceptions of Queen Elizabeth I (the "Virgin Queen") have most recently been shaped by Cate Blanchett's ferociously luminous portrayals in the 1998 and 2007 movie versions of the monarch's personal and political passions during her formidable reign.

The Minnesota Opera's riveting "Roberto Devereux" changes all that. The first in Gaetano Donizetti's trilogy of operas based on the Tudor queens, "Devereux" stars local favorite and soprano Brenda Harris as the queen in the bel-canto opera. During last Friday's opening-night performance, Harris seared the heavens with a blazing performance that left her visibly exhausted during final bows.

Harris executed the golden and silver filigree the bel-canto singing style demands - an astounding repertoire of trills, runs and the like (think vocal gymnastics, but it's known as coloratura) - with a thrilling control infused with the passionate discontent of a queen wronged. In this version of events, Devereux is less the object of the queen's wrath for his reported political treachery; she sentences him to the ax for not loving her, as a treachery of the heart bears more dire consequences for this Elizabeth.

Portuguese tenor Bruno Ribeiro, in his Minnesota Opera debut, is her perfect foil with his flawless and luscious protestations. He's in love with Sara, the Duchess of Nottingham (Tamara Klivadenko), who is the Queen's confident. Sara's husband, the Duke (Lester Lynch), happens to be Devereux's friend and advocate. Needless to say, mayhem ensues.

Mezzo-soprano Klivadenko infuses her conflicted Sara with a desperation that dares us to find fault with her. Lynch's clear, muscular baritone renders the duke the greatest victim in this affair, duped in love and friendship despite holding both closest to his heart.

Against Neil Patel's stunning set and musically shaped by Franceso Maria Columbo's conducting, Harris commands the stage in Jessica Jahn's voluminous period gowns. It's disconcerting to view Queen Elizabeth I in a regal rage over unrequited love, ruled by her heart rather than the head with which she governed so brilliantly. Yet Harris' queen gives voice to a historical eminence whose allure never dims.

Larry Fuchsberg

Special to the Star Tribune

The Donizetti opera about Queen Elizabeth's unrequited love for the Earl of Essex gets a terrific new staging by Minnesota Opera

When Gaetano Donizetti (1797-1848) wrote "Roberto Devereux," which opened Saturday at the Ordway Center in a terrific new staging by the Minnesota Opera, he was Italy's foremost active composer. The year was 1837. Rossini, opera's comic genius, had fallen silent. Bellini, master of the long-limbed melody, was dead. Verdi, who would filch material from "Devereux" for at least three of his own operas, wasn't yet a contender. But Donizetti's fortunes would soon ebb. By the 1880s, his 70 stage works seemed like relics; only a few of his comedies lingered in the repertoire.

That began to change in the 1950s, when Maria Callas spearheaded a revival. But Callas never sang in "Devereux," and a trailblazing recording by Beverly Sills failed to excite enduring interest. Hence the Minnesota Opera's vivid production, which taps deeply into the currents of jealousy, guilt, remorse and grief that run throughout the piece, may strike even Donizetti devotees as revelatory.

To the conventional love triangle, Salvadore Cammarano's well-made libretto adds an extra wrinkle: Queen Elizabeth loves Devereux (aka the Earl of Essex), who loves the Queen's confidante Sara, who is married to the Duke of Nottingham, who is Devereux's staunchest friend. The composer -- sporadic lapses into generic, march-like music notwithstanding -- projects the tensions between and within these characters, Elizabeth above all, through vocal lines (and occasional orchestral passages) of the utmost expressiveness.

In soprano Brenda Harris (who made her Minnesota Opera debut in 1988), the company has an Elizabeth of surpassing gifts, wholly equal to the rigors of the role. Steely when she wishes it so, her voice is supple and multi-hued, with a convincing trill and ravishing diminuendos on sustained high notes. Yet it sounds lived-in -- ideal for the aged Elizabeth. Harris is also a resourceful actor, able to make the woman's vulnerability visible beneath the queen's hauteur. Her "Quel sangue versato," near the opera's end, is shiver-inducing. (She returns next January in "Anna Bolena," the second installment of Donizetti's so-called Tudor Trilogy.)

Portuguese tenor Bruno Ribeiro is equipped for stardom; his portrayal of the ill-fated Devereux needs only a bit more modulation and variety of timbre. The same could be said of Lester Lynch's vocally and physically charismatic Nottingham, who persuasively negotiates the sudden turn from stalwart ally to enraged husband. Tamara Klivadenko is an affecting Sara; conductor Francesco Maria Colombo makes the orchestra sing.

Led by director Kevin Newbury, the production team is especially sensitive to the clash of public and private, and to religious dimensions of the action. Neil Patel's sets descend, oddly but effectively, from an ornate, gilded ceiling; Jessica Jahn's farthingales for Elizabeth are appropriately prison-like; D.M. Wood plays dramatically with light and shadow.

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The Minnesota Opera announces its 2010-2011 season

World Premiere of The Garden of the Finzi-Continis

Second installment of the Bel Canto-period Tudor trilogy: Mary Stuart

Highlights include the Minnesota debut of internationally renowned countertenor David Daniels in Orpheus and Eurydice and the long-awaited return of Elizabeth Futral in La traviata

Minneapolis, MN—Minnesota Opera announced its 2010-2011 season, featuring the first commission of the Minnesota Opera New Works Initiative - the world premiere of The Garden of the Finzi-Continis, based on the novel by Giorgio Bassani, by the creative team of The Grapes of Wrath (2007): Ricky Ian Gordon (composer), Michael Korie (librettist) and Eric Simonson (director). The season also boasts the Minnesota debut of an operatic superstar, countertenor David Daniels, who headlines Gluck's Orpheus and Eurydice. This wide-ranging season spans the early Classical period to the 21st century and includes the vocal pyrotechnics of Rossini's fairy tale opera (Cinderella), a Bel Canto masterpiece (Mary Stuart, second in Donizetti's Tudor trilogy) and Verdi's most famous love story (La traviata).