Nothing is more romantic than attending a La Bohème opera on Valentine’s Day. On this Feb. 14th, Vancouver just witnessed its first snow of the year, and was still shrouded in the coldness of thawing ice that was washed against by the drizzling rain. However, it did not hinder Vancouver’s enthusiasm to see the long-awaited debut of La Bohème 2019 in the Queen Elizabeth Theatre. Young and old couples all dressed in an elegant fashion, queuing in front of the theatre and waiting to see the most memorable romantic story of the year — La Bohème — a Vancouver Opera’s new production of Puccini’s opera of 1896, which enjoyed enduring popularity over the century. We were privileged and excited to buy Valentine’s Day deal tickets, which granted us the best seats in orchestra circle with only half the prize. It was meant to be an incredible experience at the beginning of the new year!
Featured in timeless music conducted by a Canadian musician and conductor Judith Yan, and stage/costume designed by André Barbe, it was the 12th time Vancouver Opera has presented a MainStage production of La Bohème. I was familiar with some of the main arias and famous duos and was in high hope of hearing some new great voices. I was not disappointed at all! On the contrary, I was overwhelmed by the Korean tenor Ji-Min Park’s smooth, lyrical and flowing voices, which stole my heart in the first and the most famous aria — “Che Gelida Manina.” It was the young tenor’s 100th performance of this role in La Bohème as Rodolfo. His voice had an absolutely gentle and powerful texture as well as properly-treated emotion, reminding the audience of many great and sophisticated tenor voices in the world, alive or dead. The magnificence and tenderness of his voice almost overshadowed the famous soprano aria that came right after — Mimì’s confession “Si Mi Chiamo Mimì.” Undoubtedly, it was one of the most beautiful aria in the entire opera, and the Quebecois soprano France Bellemare’s interpretation was warm and sensational. Although the preconceived version of Maria Callas, one of the greatest sopranos ever, was truly unforgettable, I was still moved by the emotion in France’s voice and her exquisite performance. The ostinato of this opera was revealed in these two beautiful arias for the first time and would recur throughout the whole piece, while the recitatives were both informative and beautiful.
As known to all, Puccini’s opera was famous in its sensitivity and detail to everyday subjects. Unlike the grandeur of Wagner’s operas that were generally based on religious or mythical tales, Puccini always portrayed the mundane yet touching stories about the joy and sorrow of young couples falling in love. The libretto for La Bohème was written by Giuseppe Giacosa and Luigi Illica, who had also collaborated with Puccini with his other two timeless pieces — Tosca and Madama Butterfly. The story was based on French author Henri Murger’s play Scènes de La Vie de Bohème, while the creation of this opera involved a bit of drama, including the rupture of friendship between Puccini and his best friend, a fellow composer Leoncavallo. Nevertheless, it was this mundane love story that I found deeply interesting and touching. In the first Act, Mimì and Rodolfo fell in love in the blink of an eye and highlighted the bohemian lifestyle portrayed in the story — a group of young artists in a Latin Quarter garret struggling to survive the winter while possessing a high spirit of their lives in poverty. The subsequent two Acts presented light-hearted chorus, including dances and spectacles, as well as heartrending duos between Mimì and Rodolfo while they were forced to part — all beautifully done with poetic librettos and music.
The last Act, namely Act 4, was particularly sensational, as it ended the story with the sudden death of Mimì. Mimì, with her deteriorating health due to tuberculosis, was in her death bed in the last few minutes of the opera. The last duo between Mimì and Rodolfo was so heartbreaking; and it highlighted with Mimì’s reinterpretation of Rodolfo’s famous aria — “Che Gelida Manina,” reminding us of the first scene when the two young lovers met, and broke out in Rodolfo’s desperate outcry of Mimì’s name when she died — a rather unusual unconstrained outburst of voice, which involved a tearing quality because of the extreme sadness.
Overall, I cannot express how amazed I was by watching this incredible piece of opera — what I still remember is that I hated to see the curtain fall when the last Act closed; I absolutely did not regret that I attended this debut of Vancouver Opera’s new production of Puccini’s La Bohème, for which I had to stand in the coldness on the streets of Downtown at midnight, waiting for a bus that never came while still having an MUSC 326’s midterm on the next day. I appreciated this piece so much as it reminded me of my sincere hope for worldly love as well as my heartfelt love for music; just as the music class brought the passion and enthusiasm for music back to me — all eventually presenting a message that was transmitted through music — a world full of hope and happiness.