Image: Jane Ede as Musetta and Adrian Tamburini as Alcindoro in Opera Australia’s La Bohème. Photograph courtesy of Jeff Busby.
At the plush opening night of Opera Australia’s Melbourne Season, I wondered if I was alone in harbouring some ill-feelings of discomfort while being so warmly entertained once again by Puccini’s masterpiece about young, idealistic and impecunious bohemian artists struggling to survive in wintry Paris. These feelings were particularly acute on Budget night as the Australia Council for the Arts faces cuts to its Federal funding, likely with difficult choices to make regarding which individuals and companies will no longer be supported into the future.
My discomfort continued through Gale Edwards’s transferring the story of Henry Mürger’s play from Paris’s Latin Quarter in the 1840s to the somewhat seedy decadence of late-1920s Weimar-era ‘Sin-city’ Berlin. Warm charm morphed quickly into sophistication and innocent beauty became dark, artificial and glamorous. Although I’m enthusiastic about new productions that provide creative insights into a work, I found this one (first appearing in 2011), though most painstakingly realised (particularly in Brian Thomson’s excellent sets and Julie Lynch’s wonderful costumes), unnecessary and ill-conceived. Any production that trivialises Nazi Germany as mere decorative gesture is, I believe, unwanted.
That said, this production depicted an endearing collection of characters; their lack of money was certainly more than compensated for in a love of life and trusting camaraderie. Like his other masterpiece Turandot, Puccini struggled with this work and particularly with its libretto. Both works indeed resulted in somewhat implausible story lines where minor details are overlooked, narrative rushed and we are left feeling as if we have ‘missed a reel of the film’. Indeed, La Bohème was meant to have an extra act that was never composed which would have filled in some of these curious gaps. Puccini, however, was a genius in the idiom; his music is quite unmistakable.
We burst into his opera without preparation and leave it just as abruptly. The setting of text is frenetic, the emotional impact of his music is subtle and fast-paced, complicated and always changeable. Overriding this hustle and bustle, vibrancy and erratic temperament, there is a deeply sentimental thread woven throughout the work that speaks of charm, innocence, hope, beauty and love. This achingly beautiful music makes us feel as if carried on some kind of magic carpet, though others have rejected the music as cruel, sadistic and even gratuitous. Benjamin Britten is even quoted as having considered it to be “cheap”.
Notable were the two major roles expertly filled by Armenian soprano, Lianna Haroutourian as Mimì and Italian tenor, Gianluca Terranova as Rodolfo. Both were excellent actors and had total command and understanding of their roles. Lianna Haroutourian’s interpretation provided a combination of touching naivety and genuine pathos, her voice was passionate, musical, rich and powerful. Gianluca Terranova was an affecting Rodolfo, though, on this occasion, as his range climbed the voice withdrew, with a further disappointment in his high ‘C’ at the end of the first act in unison with Mimì, a corruption of the composer’s intentions of a softly descending interval to the sweet and warm third in the final chord. Again, something which was meant as tender and charming became inflated into unnecessary triumph and exaggeration. Jane Ede’s Musetta was a convincingly unabashed, self-possessed narcissist though with sometimes insecure singing. Andrew Jones’s Marcello was genuine and engaging, but I failed to see the point of interpreting the character of Schaunard (well played by Shane Lowrencev) as a camp fop.
Andrea Molino appeared to be conducting, quite expertly, a sound in his head rather than what was actually being produced by Orchestra Victoria which was lacking in depth and warmth of string tone, ragged and unbalanced between sections. Throughout, voicing and balance were deficient though there was improvement in the final Act. No doubt the orchestra’s sound and rapport will improve as the Season progresses.
Rating: 3 stars out of 5
La Bohème
Conductor: Andrea Molino
Director: Gale Edwards
Revival Director: Andy Morton
Set Designer: Brian Thomson
Costume Designer: Julie Lynch
Lighting Designer: John Rayment
Assistant Conductor: Tahu Matheson
Cast in order of appearance: Rodolfo: Gianluca Terranova Marcello: Andrew Jones Colline: Richard Anderson Schaunard: Shane Lowrencev Benoit: Graeme Macfarlane Mimì: Lianna Haroutourian Musetta: Jane Ede Alcindoro: Adrian Tambutini Parpignol: Benjamin Rasheed Customs Officer: Clifford Plumpton Customs Sergeant: Malcome Ede
Opera Australia Chorus
Orchestra Victoria
Opera Australia
Arts Centre Melbourne
Performances on from 5-28 May
