Metropolitan Opera Preview: La bohème

The timeless and much-repaired Zeffirelli production is back for three runs.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Upper West Side real estate. Sleeps four. Act I of La bohème.
Photo by Ken Howard © 2010 The Metropolitan Opera.

To its credit, the Metropolitan Opera is pretty good about stocking its frequent revivals of La Bohème with solid casts of singers who do a wonderful job with Puccini's too-familiar score. This year's revival features three seperate casts, with Rámon Vargas and Bryan Hymel each taking on the role of the ardent poet Rodolfo who falls head-over-notebook for the seamstress Mímí in belle epoque Paris.

Opera Review: The Art is in the Details

The Met revives La bohème...again.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Rodolfo (Joseph Calleja) woos Mimì (Maija Kovaleska) in Act I of La bohème.
Photo by Cory Weaver © 2014 The Metropolitan Opera.

At the Metropolitan Opera House, La bohème is as much of a tourist attraction as the Swarovski chandeliers and Marc Chagall murals. Franco Zeffirelli's production of Puccini's opera remains unassailable: an ode to the excesses of that Italian director and the enormous resources mustered by this formidable organization. The lives of these starving artists play out on sprawling, still-handsome sets, that are lovingly rebuilt and repainted for each revival. With its Act II crowd scenes and Act III snowfall, it is easy to forget that  the singing should come first.