Filmfreak23

A ridiculous, cheap production that doesn't make any sense. I won't even spend much time discussing the second-rate (third-rate, to be honest, with the exception of the underused Aida Garifullina, who would have made a much better Mimì despite her vocally-suitable Musetta) cast, but it is quite disappointing to see that a major opera company, like the Opéra de Paris, spent time and money to stage this barf. To an opera novice, the production will ring true, but make no mistake: the entire merit is Giacomo Puccini's, who composed the magical score and was somehow inspired to write the melodic lines of some of opera's most beautiful arias, like "Che gelida manina," "Sì, mi chiamano Mimì," "O, soave fanciulla," "Quando me'n vo'" and "Donde lieta uscì," which have made their way into most everybody's subconscious due to their use in many television and cinematic productions. There is at least one thing we can trust: Puccini's greatness. Everything else in this ridiculous mise-en-scène is below mediocre. By the way, for the opera novices that ooh and ahh when the tenor or the soprano hit a high C, please note that that is precisely what they are supposed to do: those notes are in the score, and that is why they train (in theory) to be able to read and reproduce what the score says. Those of us who have been lucky to hear greatness on a magical night when one or more singers send shivers down our spines by generating something unique that extends beyond what the score says know that we have been witness to something exceptional. This production is not the case... at all. The singers manage to do what Puccini created. The acting is amateurish (at best) with the possible exception of Miss Garifullina, who displays more skills and training than the rest of the cast and who has improved significantly vocally and in her dramatic abilities in the past few years. Having said that, the worst part of all is the nonsense stemming from this absurd... creation? If you follow the script, you will notice one or two little things... like Colline's brief aria "Vecchia zimarra" (we all know how much one would need a warm, heavy coat while moving about a spaceship), Marcello's third-act narrative about Rodolfo working as a painter and Musetta's teaching singing (who the hell are their clients and students in space? Mister Spock? Master Yoda's kin?), or the fourth-act reference to Mimì's cozying up with a nobleman on a horse-drawn carriage in the streets of Paris (no irony here as it is too self-descriptive). If you want to save two hours of your life, spare this dud and fetch the Scotto-Pavarotti-Wixell, the Freni-Raimondi-Panerai, or the Gheorghiu-Vargas-Tézier video-recording of the opera. It will make sense, you will see really beautiful productions of this well-known opera, and you will listen to great singers do justice to Puccini's greatness.