June 29 2011

De Telegraaf
23 May 2011
By Eddie Vetter

Music the winner in contemporary Bohème

As its final production of the season, the National Reisopera presented La Bohème by Puccini, eminently suited to a large audience. On Saturday evening, the première at the Stadsschouwburg was transmitted live to the Old Market in Enschede, where people flocked to the pavement cafés as if on a fine summer’s evening.

Lots of atmosphere outside, little atmosphere inside. The story of the Parisian bohemians, the burgeoning love between Rodolfo and Mimi, and her death from consumption received a contemporary staging here. A typescript of Murger’s book, displayed on a bright blue backdrop, was gradually torn to shreds. The Latin Quarter and the Café Momus were situated in a glaring white department store – Lafayette at Christmas-time. The frivolous Musetta paraded over the table in a little glitter-skirt; her rich, aged escort looked like the couturier Karl Lagerfeld. Paris in the year 2011.

The only surprise was the final tableau, when we seemed to be looking into Rodolfo’s room from above, due to the fact that the singers were suspended from the walls. The production itself remained equally up in the air. In this case, transposition to the modern era had an alienating and disenchanting effect. The ideal of verism is that the creators’ hand becomes, as it were, invisible; on the contrary, the flamboyant and affected decors of Conor Murphy distracted from the core of the drama and the stage direction of Stephen Langridge was not convincing enough to compensate for that.

Pathos
Musically speaking, there was much more to enjoy. Patrick Davin led the Gelders Orchestra with passion, unafraid of a generous dose of pathos when appropriate. Rafael Dávila (Rodolfo) had wind-force 9 between his teeth, as if he was meant to be heard in Puerto Rico, yet he did not bellow the top C along with the soprano at the end of the first act, but quietly chose the lower alternative (as printed in the music) – evidence of good taste. His voice ought to appeal to a large audience, so it is strange that he has not made a real breakthrough yet. Next to him, Anita Watson’s Mimi was a little pale and young, but was certainly moving in the closing scene.

The other roles were filled – sometimes well, sometimes satisfactorily – by, among others, Thomas Oliemans (Marcello) and Stephanie Corley (Musetta). As far as its musical portion was concerned, this production rose far above the provincial average. Once again, quite a performance from the National Reisopera, which delivers top quality on a restricted budget but which, in accordance with the recent recommendation by the Council for Culture, is threatened with the loss of its structural subsidy.