'La Bohème' review: Lyric Opera's exquisite production a joy to hear and a wonder to watch
That Giacomo Puccini’s masterpiece “La Bohème” is consistently among the five or so most frequently produced operas in the world is hardly a surprise.
Suffused with some of the most captivating and now-familiar music ever written, it is a magical love story of a humble poet and seamstress set against the 1880s backdrop of Paris during the sparkling Belle Époque.
The opera has romance, humor, charm, andyes, heartbreak and tragedy. What’s not to like?
The Lyric Opera of Chicago unveiled its latest revival of this 1896 opera Saturday evening, a new-to-Chicago production that was conceived by famed film and stage director Herbert Ross and premiered at the Los Angeles Opera in 1993.
The set, designed by Gerard Howland, is nothing short of stunning, especially his distinctive inside-outside conception of the garret where Rodolfo and his three artist friends live, allowing part of the action to take place on the roof of the apartment building.
After Rodolfo and Mimì have met, they step outside and, with a nifty bit of stagecraft, the garret slides off-stage allowing this new couple to sing a love duet against a spectacular panorama of Parisian rooftops, an under-construction Eiffel Tower and a full moon as theatrical fog suggests a romantic nighttime mist. It is a breathtaking and unforgettable moment.
Making her directorial debut is Melanie Bacaling, a Chicago native who is the first female Asian American to oversee a production on Lyric’s main stage. While keeping the look of the 1993 production, she has brought her own vision to this story by librettists Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa.
Instead of imposing any kind of interpretative conceit, Bacaling has wisely focused on serving and supporting the innate power of the opera’s music and drama — filling out the characters, heightening the emotions, enhancing the humor and enlivening the crowd scenes.
With vendors of all kinds, dozens of diners, shoppers and passers-by and even a marching band all enthusiastically portrayed by members of Lyric’s Orchestra and Chorus and Uniting Voices Chicago, a local children’s choir, the Act 2 street scene in the Latin Quartet brims with energy and life.
Altogether, the result is a rich, vibrant and completely winning production with a real sense of humanity and connection in both the largest and most intimate moments.
Lyric has put together a top-flight cast worthy of an international company starting with the two lead singers — soprano Ailyn Pérez as Mimì and tenor Pene Pati as Rodolfo — understandably performing these roles with major companies all over the world.
Pati, who is making his Lyric debut, is a complete singer and natural actor with a lilting falsetto, a wonderful palette of vocal timbres and an obvious affinity for Puccini’s vocal writing. But as should be the case, the star here is Pérez, who inhabits the character with such seeming ease.
The charismatic performer brings a compelling radiance and grace to this character while also conveying her humility and vulnerability. A captivating singer with unflappable technique and abundant vocal power, she thrills with Puccini’s soaring lines and draws listeners into the quiet, reflective moments with a nuanced touch.
What is perhaps most exciting is the obvious chemistry between these two singers as they light up every scene in which they are together, from that enchanting rooftop scene in Act 1 when they celebrate their newfound romance to the final scene in which they renew their vows of love as Mimì is dying of tuberculosis.
Perhaps nothing speaks more loudly about the strength of this cast than the choice of baritone Will Liverman as Marcello, a painter who is Rodolfo’s closest friend. Liverman has appeared in 13 productions at Lyric since 2012-13, many of them as title characters, and to have him in this supporting role is a wonderful luxury.
There is an aptly warm, convivial camaraderie among the four bohemian friends, with the fine bass Peixin Chen as Colline, and baritone Ian Rucker, a third-year member of the Ryan Opera Center, Lyric’s pre-professional training program, more than holding his own as Schaunard.
Soprano Gabriella Reyes revels in the high-spirited, bad-girl character of Musetta, Marcello’s on-again, off-again girlfriend, delivering with gusto the vocal fireworks and attention-grabbing theatrics the role demands.
Back for his second Lyric appearance, conductor Jordan de Souza is in total command here, assuring a lively flow to the action and drawing the best from the singers onstage and the Lyric Orchestra in the pit.
When it is vividly brought to life as it is here, “La Bohème” is one of opera’s greatest experiences — a perfect entry point for anyone wanting to try the art form for the first time and an always rewarding work to which to return again and again.