Arts & Events

A New Production of LA BOHÈME at San Francisco Opera

Reviewed by James Roy MacBean
Saturday November 22, 2014 - 10:44:00 AM

Perhaps my greatest experience in a lifetime of opera-going was hearing Luciano Pavarotti sing Rodolfo and Mirella Freni sing Mimi in 1967 in their first ever appearances in San Francisco. As I recall, Pavarotti had only sung once before in the USA, in Houston. The impression made on me by Pavarotti and Freni in these roles was mind-blowing. Later, when these two great singers returned to San Francisco in 1988 to sing the same two roles in La Bohème, I took my 15-year-old daughter to hear them, and she too was blown away. Although I have continued to love La Bohème, –and who doesn’t? – nothing has ever come close to eliciting in me the spine-tingling shivers I experienced hearing Pavarotti and Freni as Rodolfo and Mimi.  

That said, San Francisco Opera’s new production of La Bohème, which opened Friday evening, November 14, offers alternating casts that provide glimpses aplenty of promising vocalism. As Rodolfo, American tenor Michael Fabiano was outstanding on opening night. Fabiano has sung here in 2011 as Gennaro in Donizetti’s Lucrezia Borgia, a role in which he made an auspicious company debut. Now, three years later, after touring many of the world’s leading opera houses, Fabiano has matured into a consummate vocalist, with a full-throated voice that is solid throughout the entire register. His ringing high notes are produced seemingly effortlessly, and he has both plenty of power and a fine legato. Fabiano’s “che gelida manina” and “O soave fanciulla” in Act I were exquisitely sung and full of ardor. 

On opening night, Mimi was sung by Greek soprano Alexia Voulgaridou in her local debut. She too has sung in most of the top opera houses, and she made a fine debut here as Mimi. If Alexia Voulgaridou may have been a bit nervous in Act I and insecure in her breath control in “Mi chiamano Mimi,” she more than made up for it in Acts II, III and IV. Her voice has a luscious quality that grows on you; and she is a fine actress, making you believe in her as the tubercular Mimi who finds true love with Rodolfo, then loses him, and finds him once again only to die in his arms in one of opera’s most moving endings. Voulgaridou was particularly effective in her wintry Act III duets, first with Marcello, then with Rodolfo, with whom she almost breaks up before the lovers reconcile and pledge to stay together until the next spring flowers bloom. 

As the painter Marcello, Russian baritone Alexey Markov made a fine company debut in a role he has sung at the Met; and he was admirably paired with soprano Nadine Sierra as his beloved Musetta. An alumna of the 2010 Merola Opera Program and a former Adler Fellow with San Francisco Opera, Nadine Sierra is an up-and-coming soprano with a beautiful voice who will return here to sing Countess Almaviva in next summer’s Le Nozze di Figaro. As Musetta, Sierra hammed it up with tasteful discretion, eschewing the worst over-the-top camping often indulged in by other singers of this role. Vocally, Sierra delivered her Act II waltz aria, Quando m’en vo,” without flourishes and ornamentations, relying solely on her exquisite voice and consummate musicianship. 

Rounding out the bohemians were baritone Hadleigh Adams as the musician Schaunard and bass-baritone Christian Van Horn as the philosopher Colline. Both singers were excellent; and Van Horn especially stood out in singing his famous farewell to his beloved old worn overcoat. Veteran bass-baritone Dale Travis was memorable as the landlord Benoit, and he doubled as Musetta’s elderly escort in Act II’s scene at Café Momus. Giuseppe Finzi was the conductor; and he was guilty of maddeningly slow tempos throughout. Finzi’s laggardly conducting was the only real drawback in the opening night performance. Sets and costumes were designed by Tony-award nominee David Farley; and the Parisian garret of the four young bohemians was a bit fussy and confusing. Were those paintings by Marcello hanging high on the walls or windows revealing Parisian rooftops? Or some of each? Farley’s Act II Latin Quarter set lacked depth and will hardly make us forget Franco Zeffirelli’s memorable Café Momus stage-set. The Tony award-winning stage director was Canadian John Caird, who did a fine job of keeping the action moving, and he was aided by the Lighting Designer Michael James Clark. The San Francisco Opera Chorus performed beautifully under the leadership of Chorus Director Ian Robertson. 

La Bohème will continue, with alternating casts, through December 7. The second cast features Leah Crocetto as Mimi, Italian tenor Giorgio Berrugi as Rodolfo, Ellie Dehn as Musetta, and Brian Mulligan as Marcello. All other singers remain the same as in the first cast.