Central City Opera revitalizes Puccini’s ‘La Bohème’

One reason Puccini’s “La Bohème” is among the most beloved of operas is its masterful musical and theatrical structure. Each of the four acts is a concise thirty minutes; each is musically unified and dramatically discrete. It is so frequently performed, however, that musical and stage directors mustfind ways to exploit this perfect structure to suit a new vision.

Central City Opera’s new production of “Bohème” premiered Saturday night, the second offering of the 2012 festival season. Everything, including the weather, conspired to put the opera in its best light. It is set in winter, and Saturday’s abundant rain with cooling temperatures set the mood before the first note.

The essence of the story is not bound to any time, and director Kevin Newbury moved it up 100 years from its original setting in post-revolutionary Paris to the same city between the wars in the 1930s. This had little impact on the opera’s substance, although it led to a few anachronisms in the libretto, like a reference to the French king’s face on a coin.

Newbury’s more immediate success was in creating an atmosphere that genuinely conveyed the cold and impoverished conditions of its characters. The two male leads are revealed silently at work, with snow falling behind them, before the orchestra even tunes and as patrons are still being seated. The sets are beautiful, but sparse, even the usually audacious Latin Quarter café in Act II.

Music director John Baril had a keen sense of flow throughout, really shaping each act into a complete musical entity. The orchestra provided a sonic reflection of the atmosphere on the stage, as in those coldly plucked strings and “shivering” tremolos at the beginning of Act III. The excellent chorus with children, led by Nicholas Nesbitt as the colorful Parpignol, drives the action of Act II without getting in its way and gives parts of Act III a shimmering background.

But no “Bohème” will be successful without a committed cast, and that is where the CCO production crosses from atmospheric effect to emotional affect. In order for the tragedy to have a proper impact, the audience must love the heroine Mimi as much as the poet Rodolfo does. In her portrayal, soprano Elizabeth Caballero projects the warmth of Mimi’s heart as much as the cold of her hands. She caresses every note, right up to the character’s inevitable yet sweetly poignant death. Rodolfo can cry as much as he wants — if the Mimi is not lovable, the audience will not follow suit. Caballero’s Mimi is, as the text states, “an angel from heaven.”

Tenor Eric Margiore plays Rodolfo with surprising modesty in a role that was the signature of such larger-than-life figures as Luciano Pavarotti. He avoids every temptation of self-indulgence, even in his great Act I aria. We care about him because Mimi cares about him, not because he can (and does) hit a high C at 8000 feet.

Soprano Deborah Selig as Musetta seamlessly weaves her famous waltz-aria into the radiant fabric of Act II and into the larger character dynamic. Musetta is often played as a marked contrast to Mimi, butSelig is more subtle and tender, especially in the intimate moments of Act IV and even in the argument with her lover, the painter Marcello, at the end of Act III.

Baritone Troy Cook, similarly to Margiore, manages to portray an understated, yet robust Marcello. In addition to Selig, he also sings at length in duets with Caballero and Margiore, a daunting task, but a necessary one to fulfill his role as someone who understands each lover’s point of view.

The other two Bohemians, the philosopher Colline and the musician Schaunard, are sung with joy, humor, sorrow, and empathy by Ryan Speedo Green and Chris Carr. Both are particularly engaging inthe more comic scenes.

As usual, the brief comic roles of Benoit and Alcindoro are covered by the same singer, Thomas Goerz, who is wonderful in the former role, a bit too subdued in the latter.