OK, I admit it. I have become jaded. I attended the recent performance of La Boheme at the Met and I found myself very reluctant to again encounter the Zeffirelli production. Not that there is anything inherently wrong with the Zeffirelli production. It is just that after more years than I care to count and more performances than I can remember, I am tired of it. Actually, I dread it. They should change the libretto so that Rodolfo sings to Mimi, "of all the artist's garrets in all the towns in all the world, you walk into mine." Why Paris? Why this same room, the same table, chairs, food basket to be lowered from the ceiling? Why the same old inn in which Marcello and Musetta live? Why the same Cafe Momus? This proves the old adage about too much of a good thing.
To be fair, there were some minor changes in the movements of the characters on stage. That was refreshing. And the cast was good.
This time around, Anna Netrebko sang Mimi, Piotr Beczala sang Rodolfo, Ruth Ann Swenson sang Musetta, George Petean sang Marcello, Patrick Carfizzi sang Schaunard and Paul Plishka sang Alcindoro. The conductor was Marco Armiliato.
I was happy to finally hear Ruth Ann Swenson in person after listening to her recordings for many years. I enjoyed her singing and her robust acting in the role of Musetta. I was also happy to finally catch up with Anna Netrebko as Mimi since last time she was scheduled to perform the role at the Met, she had to cancel because of her pregnancy. My observation of Netrebko is that she effortlessly opens her mouth and immediately the hall is filled with the most mellifluous sound. I had not heard Piotr Beczala before or actually even heard of him. He was quite good as Rodolfo. However, he looked a bit too much like the Marlboro Man to have me convinced that he was actually a starving artist in Paris. Perhaps, the setting of the opera should have been changed to Colorado. And after having witnessed the passion between Netrebko and Rolando Villazon as Mimi and Rodolfo in the recent movie of La Boheme, the interactions between Netrebko and Beczala seemed cold in comparison.
There were some unplanned for events up in the Family Circle on which I would like to comment. First, there was the person who had their cell phone on vibrate that went off repeatedly during the entire first act. I don't know why they could not turn it off the first time it went off. Then there was the lady who was obviously quite sick who coughed throughout the entire opera. Finally, before the third act she went up to the standing room section where she still continued to cough. She looked like she should should have been home in bed or in a hospital. I feel sorry for those sitting around her who were exposed to whatever it was she had and for the rest of us who had to listen to her coughing. Sometimes inconsideration has no bounds. There was also a verbal altercation between two "gentlemen" - one sitting behind the other. I think they agreed to disagree.
On the positive side, there was a mother with her two young daughters and a mother and father with their young son and daughter sitting near me. I was impressed with how these youngsters sat through the entire evening performance with minimal talking and with attentiveness. My hat is off to this next generation of opera fans and the folks who have raised them.
I look forward to new productions of La Boheme in the future to see love blossom in new settings. Might as well spread the wealth.
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