Latest Opera Lyra Production (La Bohème) is Musically Exquisite and Theatrically Exciting.

Photo: Barbara Gray. Laura Whelan (Musetta standing), Joyce El-Khoury (Mimi) and Michael Fabiano (Rodolfo)

Saturday, September 8, 2012 was an exciting night in opera at the National Arts Center and will be remembered as the start of a new artistic direction for Opera Lyra. Judging by the audience’s reactions, I would say it’s definitely going down the right path. On the opening night of La Boheme, Southam Hall, full almost to the last seat, lived, breathed, laughed and cried with the heroes on the stage. As hard as it is to achieve this kind of connection between the cast and audience, it is as magical when it happens. And surely, magic happened on Saturday night.

Giacomo Puccini’s opera La Bohème is loosely based on “Scènes de la vie de bohème,” a series of stories by Henri Murger. It was first performed in Turin on February 1, 1896 at the Teatro Regioand under the baton of the young Arturo Toscanini. The story depicts the life of four artists in Paris’s Latin Quarter in 1830. They share a shabby, cold apartment and are often without fuel to warm them during the winter and have very little to eat or drink. Despite this, they live a merry life filled with poetry, song, dance, philosophy and paintings. It is when these poverty-stricken but carefree moments are infiltrated by powerful love that the troubles began. Burdened by deprived life conditions, lovers part, only to be brought back together at the bitter end when Mimi is dying of tuberculosis.

There is not much to add about Giacomo Puccini’s beautiful opera. The fact that it has been performed on stages around the world for more than a century, and that it has been an audiences favorite, tells enough. As for the Opera Lyra’s innovative and imaginative production, there is a lot to be excited about. 

In the vision of the stage director Joe Bascetta and Claude Accolas’ effective light designs, this is la belle époque Paris as described by historians and artist of that time. The staging is just perfect – nothing is too much or too little. As a result, it feels very natural and convincing. The storyline is respected but empowered with new passion and a slightly more modern approach. This effectively merging of opera and drama infused life in the joy and suffering of Puccini’s heroes.

Accompanied by Alexander Shelly’s brilliant conducting, the singers proved to be up to the task of delivering very demanding roles. All credits go to their various talents – singing and acting alike – which is the reason why all the characters in this production are unique. The Canadian soprano Joyce El-Khoury’s Mimi is innocent and meek, but still passionate in her love, and heartbreakingly convincing in her last moments as he is swept by the deadly illness. Another Canadian soprano, Laura Whalen, brought an extravagant and luscious Musetta to the stage, a women of many vices but also in possession of a tender human heart. She did a tremendous job in portraying such a complex character.

The night in Opera this Saturday was special, because we witnessed the beginning of a new era in Opera Lyra’s production. It was greeted with long-standing ovations and marked by the excitement inherent in the emergence of the new artistic environment. 

La Bohème

An Opera Lyra production

By: Giacomo Puccini

Libretto by Luigo Illica and  Giuseppe Giacosa

Based on passages from Scènes de la vie de  bohème, by  Henri Murger 

Conductor   -   Alexander Shelley

Stage Director   -   Joe Bascetta

Set & Costume Design   -  Olivier Landreville (Opéra de Montréal

Lighting Design   -   Claude Accolas

Chorus Master   -   Laurence Ewashko 

Children’s Chorus Master   -   Jamie Loback

Set designer for the Opéra de Montréal – Olivier Landreville

Cast:

Mimì   -   Joyce El-Khoury

Rodolfo   -   Michael Fabiano

Marcello   -   Joshua Hopkins 

Musetta   -   Laura Whalen

Colline   -   Valerian Ruminski

Schaunard   -   Peter McGillivray 

Benoīt/Alcindoro   -   Peter Strummer

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