First visit to the ROH of 2010 and my first opera. Clearly, I am therefore by no means a connoisseur, so bear with me as I give my tuppence worth!
All acts are packed with famous arias and duets, and these were generally very well sung by what was in the most part a cast of young artists. As the two leads Rodolfo and Mimi, Ji-Min Park and Rebecca Evans, although perhaps lacking in romantic chemistry, gave solid vocal performances - some lovely floating top notes from Rebecca Evans in particular. They were well supported by the seasoned performer Chistopher Maltman as Marcello - his acting in particular distinguishing him from the majority of this young cast. The exception being Eri Nakamura as Musetta - who acted this fickle flirt-with-a-heart down to a tee. Perhaps the only weak performance came from Simone del Savio (Schaunard - a musician) who may have been having an off night, but somehow failed to project beyond the orchestra across the entirety of his vocal range.
So that's the cast, now the production and the opera itself. The set is truly spectacular - the Act III set drawing gasps of delight and spontaneous applause and gusty 'bravos' when the curtains reveal the snowy stage, with the gate made famous by the poster campaign at the back of the stage. Makes you realise how much the need for dance space limits the set in ballet productions. As for the plot, well it's hasty that's for sure, but if you can pad it out within your head you can get into the heart of the weighty emotions of act III. Rodolfo and Mimi fall in love extremely quickly, even by theatrical standards (I haven't seen any operas for comparison!), and then we don't see the intervening months of love before things begin to go wrong. Opera having words gives both the potential for wit, but also removes the scope for more abstract plot development, as is possible with dance. Therefore whilst I'm happily carried along by Manon and Des Grieux falling in love in one dance, there is something less believable about this happening in one song in opera. That said, it may be that this was due to a short-falling of the chemistry of this particular Rodolfo and Mimi, so I'll reserve judgement for now...
That sounds negative, which wasn't my intention. I thoroughly enjoyed the evening, the music was great, the production is beautiful and Puccini is witty if a little cheesy. I will be back for more.
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