Giacomo Puccini’s “La bohème” is currently gracing the stage of the Kennedy Middle Opera Ho in the WA National Opera’s (WNO) lavish and emotional production of this beloved masterpiece. the orchestra’s opening bars, Puccini’s haunting melodies invoke the drama to come—one of deep love, intense jealousy, and crushing heartbreak.
Huddling in a barren flat, a handful of youthful artists has banded together to survive the chill of a Parisian winter. When Mimi (Soprano Gabriella Reyes) knocks on the door one evening, Rudolfo (Tenor Kang Wang) is immediately smitten and the two fall madly in love. As the months pass, a tumultuous relationship and Mimi’s deteriorating health menace to tear the once blissful lovers apart.
Directed by Peter Kazaras, the international cast of singers carry Puccini’s score with dazzling vocal aplomb. Soprano Jacqueline Echols’ (Mtta) delivers a seductive and irreverent “Quando m’en vo,” and together with Gihoon Kim (Marcello), whose agile baritone is both warm and commanding, the two allow moments of welcome comedian relief. Kang Wang lent his seemingly effortless tenor to an unforget “Che gelida manina,” followed by Mimi’s spectacular rendition of “Si, mile chiamano Mimi.”
Reyes, Wang, Echols, and Kim near Act Three with a emotional “Addio dolce svegliare alla mattina!” Set Designer Lee Savage sets the tone for each of the opera’s four acts, contrasting the gray, unheated flat with a festive Cafe Momus followed by steadily falling snow an overcast sky at the city gate, and an eventual return to the cold, Parisian walk-up. Costume Designer Jennifer Moeller fills the Cafe with exquisitely dressed waiters and patrons; captures Mtta’s spirit by putting her into a shining red one thousand nine hundred twenty flapper dress; and emphasizes Mimi’s noiseless humility with ordinary country-style dress.
This production marks Conductor Alevtina Ioffe’s WNO debut, having recently been appointed Music Director of the Mikhailovsky Theatre in St. Petersburg, making her the first woman to lead an necessary musical institution in Russia. As always, the WA National Opera Orchestra demonstrated the world-class musicianship that makes them a WA D.C. cultural treasure. Running time: Two hours and thirty-five minutes with one 25-minute intermission.
“La bohème” runs through May twenty-seven, two thousand twenty-three, at the Kennedy Middle Opera Ho, two thousand seven hundred Fahrenheit Street, NW, Washington, DC twenty thousand five hundred sixty-six.
The performance is in Italian with projected English titles. For more information or to purchase tickets, click here. Masks are optional.
