Latest production of the Montpellier Opera, “La bohème” is a treat on all counts!

Au Paris initial de 1830, cette production a préféré celui des années 1920; ce qui autorise un glissement (réussi) vers le cabaret. Marc Ginot – OONM.

Stylized staging, elegant and graceful direction, modern and invigorating interpretation, the opera “La bohème” delight Montpellier! The three performances at the Berlioz opera are inexorably sold out, but you can enjoy a free screening of this production on Sunday June 2 on the Place Royale du Peyrou!

Twelve years since Puccini's masterpiece was performed in Montpellier, where staged operas have become rare, even though they were already precious… Obviously, the three representations of La Bohème, a co-production of the Montpellier National Opera-Orchestra and the Irish National Opera, were taken by storm. Long before even knowing that the person who was going to conduct the orchestra would be its future musical director: Roderick Cox.

Notwithstanding, it’s staging by Orpha Phelan, inseparable from the sets and costumes of Nicky Shaw, which immediately catches the eye… and who hits the mark. She chose to move the action to the efflorescent Paris of the interwar period, an era in which modernity has, if we dare say, not aged a bit. a century. Furthermore, in these new 1920s, which we will be careful not to describe as “crazy”, they, the words, and the evils, precariousness, misery, illness, return to the artistic vocabulary” hellip;

Finally, in short, the decor, mobile, modular, all in false perspectives and expressionist lights, appears without excess, here an interior of an artists' studio deserted by comfort, there a lively and bombastic street in the Latin Quarter , elsewhere the snowy desolation of the Hell Barrier… A perfect springboard to unleash our imagination, our emotions…hellip; and above all the expression of impeccable distribution. More than their youth and their diversity (which are delightful, without constituting proactive qualities in themselves), it is their commitment, their homogeneity and their talent in acting as in singing which amaze, throughout the four scenes of the melodrama.

From laughter to tears

At first, we enjoy the complicity of Rodolfo (Long Long), Marcello (Mikolaj Trabka), Schaunard (Dominic Sedgwick) and Colline (Dongho Kim): they are pulling the devil by the tail, but they don't have to worry about it. also have a body, it compensates, it's great to see, and their black humor turns out to be very contemporary. The first duet of the warm Rodolfo with the slender Mimi (Adriana Ferfecka) is delicious, full of vocal and gestural delicacies, we believe in love at first sight. O Soave Fanciulla! The picture of Parisian bohemia is another joy, necessarily more spectacular, with its crowded terraces, its cheerful Parpignol (Hyoungsub Kim), its gaggle of kids… and the formidable charivari served impeccably, and cheerfully, by the choirs of the Orchestra and Junior Opera. The tasty love joust between Marcello and Musetta (Julia Muzychenko) is the occasion for an aesthetic and geographical shift particularly well seen in the Berlin cabaret scene, fishnet stockings, corset and snap hat included!

The contrast is striking with the return a few months later, at the gates of the city, in a film noir nocturnal atmosphere. There is no longer time to laugh at a fortune that only works in reverse but to take a first bullet to the heart. Mimi's farewells, Donde lieta uscì al tuo grido d’amore, are heartbreaking, and offer us the opportunity to praise the infinite refinement of the ;rsquo;Montpellier orchestra that the fine and elegant direction of Roderick Cox incites marvels of light aerobatics.

We are obviously not at the end of our troubles: the last scene is not brilliant for the characters but dazzling for us who are its witnesses. From the lack of love that does not die ? To save Mimi, we nail her beloved coat, and Dongho Kim's bass has metaphysical vibrations. But the beauty is slowly dying out.Sono andati ? Fingevo di dormie. Supported by the tragic force of Long Long, Adriana Ferfecka expires with an adamantine intensity such that she cracks the ceiling of the opera which leaves pass the rain… But no, it’s us: damn, we’re crying.

Free screening at Peyrou

Recorded by the cameras of Festivisuel, the show “La bohème” will be rebroadcast free of charge outdoors on the Place Royale du Peyrou on Sunday June 2 at 8 p.m. An Event which is made possible thanks to the profits generated by the sale of tickets for “Dinner on stage of the opera” and with the support of Altémed, first patron of the Opera Orchestra, and Montpellier Méditerranée Métropole. A unique opportunity to (re)discover this masterpiece of Italian opera in a historic, relaxed and family setting… Subject to availability.
 

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