Never tiring of 'La Boheme'

Los Angeles Opera: 'La Boheme'
December 2, 2004
Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Los Angeles
Music by Giacomo Puccini

I can't imagine growing tired of Puccini's "La Boheme," even when all the pieces aren't there in any given production. The music is just sublime, and the opera doesn't really go on and on forever (in the way that some operas are fond of doing...think Wagner, or even some Mozart). Everytime I hear that score, I get emotional butterflies: I get all happy and sentimental in the love scenes, and I get teary eyed at the end.

So it was with LA Opera's production of "La Boheme." The production is beautifully sung - I saw the cast with Ana Maria Martinez as Mimi (apparently a very young singer, according to the guy I was standing with in the rush line), Marco Berti as Rodolfo and Alfredo Daza as Marcello. Martinez was wonderful as Mimi, though it was somewhat hard to hear her during the first scene (the 'Light My Candle' scene), probably because the set is up and enclosed then. But she gave a beautiful "Addio, senza rancor" in Act III. Alfredo Daza was particularly dashing and appealing as Marcello, also fine of voice. The only sour apple in the barrel was Shelley Jameson as Musetta - I could barely hear her most of the time she was singing on stage, even if she looked ravishing in her multitude of costumes.

The production was pretty good, though standard "Boheme". Big, big sets - Acts I & IV take place on a massive, multilayered set depicting the top of a Paris building...which rolls away dramatically at the end of Act I. Acts II and III feature massive buildings, though are less impressive in their drab gray-ness.

The best part of my night at "Boheme," though? The steal on tickets that I got. My $20 student rush ticket, for which I waited one hour outside in the only mild cold, put me in Row C of the orchestra section, dead center! When I told my boss the next day, she said that they were likely house seats that were released, and went unsold. It was exciting being that close to the singers and the orchestra, seeing their facial expressions up close and hearing the music being shot right at you. Admittedly, though, the best sound in the theatre is up in the balcony, where the voices and orchestra have had a chance to approrpiately mix. Still though, it was an amazing seat - quite a fun evening of opera.