Music Reviews

Apr 24, 2009 - Nevada Opera's luminous "La Boheme" is lyric theater at its most poignant and exciting

By Jack Neal

He may not have written the songs the whole world sings, but few question Giacomo Puccini’s ability to write arias the whole world adores. Almost equally as important, his sense of theater was a keen as his gift for song. Nevada Opera’s “La Boheme” taps into both of those Puccini gifts (and more) for a luminous “La Boheme” that is lyric theater at its most poignant and exciting.

The eternally popular “La Boheme” returned to Reno’s Pioneer Center Friday night (4/24/09) for another moving encounter with young love and tragic misunderstanding. From the decrepit artists loft hovering among the rooftops of Paris in the 1840s through the rapturous music Puccini so superbly crafted to capture the passions of young and financially destitute artists, “La Boheme” has always touched the heart as if on the wings of a song. It still does.

The poet Rodolfo falls madly in love with the lovely and frail Mimi. The artist Marcello is infatuated with the flirtatious Musetta. Surrounded by loving, if somewhat neurotic friends, “La Boheme” at its best – which it is with this intimate and beautifully sung Nevada Opera production – cannot help but touch the romantic soul of even the most dire observer.

The performances are beautiful and heartfelt. Soprano Suzanne Woods’s Mimi is delicate and pure, her arias as radiant as Puccini’s music is luminous. Her singing of “Mi chiamano Mimi” is a haunting introduction to the delicate persona of Mimi. John Pickle, a true Puccini tenor, brings a resilient, wonderfully placed sound and a sensitive musicality to Rodolfo that embraces each nuance of this rich score with an enviable mix of delicacy and strength. His singing of “Che gelida manina” is a study in adoration for the woman he loves at first sight.

Dennis Jesse returns once again to Nevada Opera as the lovesick Marcello, and Jesse is once again magnetic as both an actor and singer. Soprano Suzette Thoeni has grown up with Nevada Opera and she is one of the company’s shining stars. Her portrait of Musetta – a coquette with a hot temper, a commanding voice and a heart of gold - is a delight. Musetta’s “Waltz Song” is one of the many joys this production offers. Baritone Johnnie Bankens makes his Nevada Opera debut as Colline and he’s impressive. He scores solid marks for his expressive singing of Colline’s famous Act IV “coat” aria.

The picturesque sets by Jack Shouse effectively evoke the coldness of the Paris winter of 1840 and the warmth of the opera’s characters. With its tiny run-down, Latin-Quarter flat and the colorful Christmas Eve party at the Café Momus, “La Boheme’s” look captures the essence of the artists’ bohemian lifestyles. Handsome period costumes add authenticity to each scene. Don Smith’s lighting highlights the action in a dramatic and focused Rembrandt way.

The chorus of adults and children in the café scene sing and play with a natural affinity for their surroundings. Michael Borowitz’s staging is handled with sensitivity to dramatic action and the needs of singers. The only staging distractions are scene-ending curtains that break the spell and prompt applause before the music has ended.

Borowitz (he wears two hats in this production) conducts with a sweeping view of the music’s lyricism and emotional power. This is in all ways an exquisitely rendered reading of Puccini’s eloquent score. The Nevada Opera Orchestra is in top form and provides a precise and lush collaboration for singers, and a rich underscoring for the opera’s dramatic action.

With this splendidly theatrical Nevada Opera presentation, Puccini’s frail depiction of the human spirit is as gripping and moving as ever.

Nevada Opera’s production of “La Boheme” can be seen and heard Friday night at 7:30 (4/24/09 – the performance reviewed), and Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m., at the Pioneer Center for the Performing Arts, 100 South Virginia Street, Reno, Nevada. The performance runs two hours and forty-five minutes including three intermissions. For information call 775-786-4046.