Opernhaus Zurich – Puccini’s La Boheme. September 29, 2018.

Haupthuhne Opernhaus, Zurich.  2 Rang Mitte Rechts (Row 6, Seat 19, CHF 95).

Story.  See previous post.

Conductor – Speranza Scappucci.  Rodolfo – Benjamin Bernheim, Marcello – Yurly Yurchuk, Schaunard – Huw Montague Rendall, Colline – Stanislav Vorobyov, Mimi – Guanqun Yu, Musetta – Georgia Jarman.

Program for this performance. 

We are on a group tour of Europe, and will be in Zurich for two evenings.  For tonight there was La Boheme, and for tomorrow night Macbeth.  My preference would have been Macbeth as the story is a bit more “substantial.”  Problem was this performance had discounted tickets, so very few “cheap seats” were left.

We decided to go with La Boheme, and we were not disappointed.

Although our seats were in the second balcony, the small size of the auditorium meant we could see reasonably well, and hear very well.  I don’t know how these musicians would do at the Met, but they certainly came through clearly.  My only complaint would be the orchestra still managed to overwhelm the singer at some critical moments, although it wasn’t a case of the singers and the orchestra were trying hard to be heard over the other group.

View from our seat in Rank II (highest level) of auditorium is great.

The production was definitely low-budget, and in many instances difficult to understand.  In Act I there were these furnishings set up with thin, white cardboards that the singers collapsed as the storyline unfolded.  The rear of the stage has its own curtains and was sometimes set up as the outdoors, or another scene.  Act II in the “original” story happened outside Café Momus.  I had no idea what they were trying to portray in this production, and found the scenery at times very incongruent with the story.  Act III should show a check point; here people dressed in strange costumes tried – and failed – to add a light element to the story.  Act IV should be the apartment again, but we had the leftover rows of chair from Act II, and a bed was carried out by Schaunard and Colline for Mimi to lie in.  My understanding was Act IV happens in late spring, so what is this winter scene doing in the background?  While the soloists were great, I though the chorus could be more precise.  Except for being too loud for the vocals every now and then, I really enjoyed the orchestra’s performance.  Unfortunately my seat didn’t have a good view of the orchestra, or the conductor.

Despite all that, the simple and sad story still came through clearly, and I was moved by it.

All the principal musicians (the four men and two women) looked quite young, so one didn’t have to use too much imagination to see them that way.  Mimi’s dress certainly looked expensive for a poor seamstress, and she couldn’t pass herself off as being very sick.

Scappucci is one of the few women conductors that I know of who have seen a world opera stage, and Yu is from Yantai, China.  Perhaps Zurich Opera is a great stepping stone to other famous houses in the world, which would be great.

Curtain Call.  The conductor is a woman and Mimi is sung by someone from Yantai, China.

We were a bit rushed for time, so dinner was at the MacDonald’s next to the opera house.