The long awaited – by me – production of La Bohème for the Holiday season finally arrived. This stalwart Puccini favorite is always a winner for the holidays and can easily fill up the seats at the War Memorial. The last time I saw Bohème with the San Francisco Opera must have been twenty years ago. This production improved upon that previous one with snazzier sets.
That said, I sincerely hope that the subsequent performances would be better than the one I came to see. While this performance was wonderful, there were more than a few technical flaws that rankled the cognoscenti, I am sure.
La Bohème is a timeless story of people struggling in the face of extreme uncertainty. You know, like the start-up culture here in San Francisco. People do what they can to get by. Given that very real, personal backstory, and the gut-wrenching music that Puccini scored, it should not be difficult at all to pull off one of the most poignant, deeply emotional, and full of pathos piece of musical art ever. And yet, here we are, wondering what happened last night.
Maybe it's me. Maybe after twenty-five years of listening to this opera in my car, on my iPod, watching versions on end on YouTube and Netflix, I'm just jaded to the story. Or, maybe it was the rather pedestrian, bland production with everyone just seemingly going through the motions and no passion behind it all.
I can't enumerate all the little tics and flaws, and I wasn't there to keep score. But there were little things here and there that just bothered me. The gratuitous use of slapstick antics was unnecessary. The oddly choreographed actions from the four bohemians broke the mystique of the make-believe desperate living conditions. The movements by some of the principals betrayed their bedraggled and sickly personae. And lastly, the orchestra's performance just didn't have any oomph to it.
The whole production came off as a very good high school production. It might not even have been on par with a very good college production.
Sure, I still cried at the end. And the false festive atmosphere at the end of the second act gave everyone an upbeat feeling as they left for intermission. But I was hoping for, and expecting, some real creativity and passion to shine through the performance.
Nonetheless, for the newbies who have yet to experience the monumental opera, do yourself a favor and attend it. You wouldn't know the flaws without you having seen and heard hundreds of other performances. Ok, except that part when the two sets didn't completely abut each other properly. That, you'd notice.
That said, I sincerely hope that the subsequent performances would be better than the one I came to see. While this performance was wonderful, there were more than a few technical flaws that rankled the cognoscenti, I am sure.
La Bohème is a timeless story of people struggling in the face of extreme uncertainty. You know, like the start-up culture here in San Francisco. People do what they can to get by. Given that very real, personal backstory, and the gut-wrenching music that Puccini scored, it should not be difficult at all to pull off one of the most poignant, deeply emotional, and full of pathos piece of musical art ever. And yet, here we are, wondering what happened last night.
Maybe it's me. Maybe after twenty-five years of listening to this opera in my car, on my iPod, watching versions on end on YouTube and Netflix, I'm just jaded to the story. Or, maybe it was the rather pedestrian, bland production with everyone just seemingly going through the motions and no passion behind it all.
I can't enumerate all the little tics and flaws, and I wasn't there to keep score. But there were little things here and there that just bothered me. The gratuitous use of slapstick antics was unnecessary. The oddly choreographed actions from the four bohemians broke the mystique of the make-believe desperate living conditions. The movements by some of the principals betrayed their bedraggled and sickly personae. And lastly, the orchestra's performance just didn't have any oomph to it.
The whole production came off as a very good high school production. It might not even have been on par with a very good college production.
Sure, I still cried at the end. And the false festive atmosphere at the end of the second act gave everyone an upbeat feeling as they left for intermission. But I was hoping for, and expecting, some real creativity and passion to shine through the performance.
Nonetheless, for the newbies who have yet to experience the monumental opera, do yourself a favor and attend it. You wouldn't know the flaws without you having seen and heard hundreds of other performances. Ok, except that part when the two sets didn't completely abut each other properly. That, you'd notice.