I recently saw the new movie of La Boheme on PBS and would like to share a few impressions. This movie features Anna Netrebko as Mimi and Rolando Villazon as Rudolfo. The movie was directed by Robert Dornhelm. I had been awaiting this film for some time especially since Ms. Netrebko did not sing the Boheme for which I had tickets last year because of her pregnancy and because I recently ran into Mr. Villazon on the street in New York City and, thus, felt even greater incentive to see his performance.
This movie of La Boheme is different from what we usually find on DVD's which is a recording of the staged opera. This La Boheme clearly falls into the genre of a movie which means that the director has greater tools at his disposal to portray the action and nuances of the opera. I thought Mr. Dornhelm did a wonderful job of making use of these tools. This started from the very beginning where he provides us with a view of what Mimi is aware of in her flat while the artists are carrying on in their flat. This lays the foundation for the upcoming action. We see Mimi as deliberately wanting to meet whoever is in the other flat and contriving the burnt out candle to achieve this. This gets commented on at the end of the opera. In the second act, we get to see what Musetta is actually doing inside the inn which becomes Marcello's source of irritation with her.
Mr. Dornhelm's use of color is also impactful. He moves from color to conveying scenes with an accentuation of black and white to scenes with grays to capture Paris streets such as can be found in the photography of Atget.
This was a far more intimate view of La Boheme I assume also benefiting from the medium of cinema. The scenes between Mimi and Rudolfo were up-close and personal reflecting the course of their romance, their passion and their parting in Act 2 and Mimi's death in Act 3. I assume that this film was possible because of the acting ability of Ms. Netrebko and Mr. Villazon. In the back-stage interviews which were part of the PBS broadcast, Ms. Netrebko comments that she learned that eye movements are much more important on film. I thought that they both made the transition to the cinema milieu. They both succeeded in engaging me for the entire course of the opera. Having seen the Ziffirelli production more times than I can count, it was pleasant to see a variation without going to the extent of the recent Tosca performance.
I save the singing for last because there is not much more than I can do than be awestruck by Netrebko and Villazon. I am not a voice critic so I do not delve into the nuances of voice. I can only talk about what reaaly impacts me and what does not. This impacts me. I think the chemistry between the two of them is really wonderful. I have been watching the DVD of Massenet's Manon at home featuring Netrebko and Villazon and I feel the same way about that performance. I am beginning to identify the far more personal, intimate and passionate interactions that are highlighted in their performances. Their performances are a long way from the stand up and sing days in the past yet their performances do not sacrifice any of the singing. One thought I have is whether the direction and acting in this film contextualizes the music and libretto more than can occur on stage. I find myself needing to use a baseball analogy here. Watching games on television with the close-ups and commentary provides greater understanding. However, there is nothing like watching in person as a homerun ball heads for the bleachers or a high C heads for the Family Circle.
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