In Review > North America
La Bohème
NEW YORK CITY
The Metropolitan Opera
2/20/10
La Bohème at the Met, with Cabell, Finley, Beczala, Netrebko, Cavalletti and Shenyang at the Café Momus
© Johan Elbers 2010
Franco Zeffirelli's cinematically overstuffed and highly popular production of La Bohème, first unveiled at the Met in 1981, proved wondrous and durable as ever this season, especially with its impressive opening-night cast — Anna Netrebko and Piotr Beczala as Mimì and Rodolfo, Nicole Cabell and Gerald Finley as Musetta and Marcello. Netrebko's presence felt like the big event going in, and indeed, it seemed as though everyone in the sold-out crowd stopped breathing when Mimì entered. Netrebko sang with her customary lush, ear-massaging beauty, plus an innate ability to spin out phrases of subtle shapeliness without making the listener conscious of her artistry. She seemed to feel no need to "act" weak or sickly — in fact, she did none of the coughing that's indicated in the stage directions (although this may have been to preserve vocal health). As an artist, she has to do very little in order to command her audience's attention completely.
Consequently, it was all the more remarkable that Cabell's Musetta at times made you forget Netrebko's presence entirely. A thoroughly impressive singer and gifted comedienne, Cabell presented a Musetta who was spoiled and manipulative, yet impossible to dislike — a comically self-absorbed narcissist to whom people are drawn in spite of themselves. Her "Quando me'n vo" had expertly coquettish phrasing that was indulgent, to be sure, but only within the limits of character. Cabell's tone is liquid gold, and if her diction was a bit marble-mouthed, nobody seemed to mind. It was fully credible that Zeffirelli's vast Latin Quarter crowds came to a screeching halt when she sang.
Beczala's healthy tenor is gleaming and free-flowing all the way to the top, and he had real chemistry with Netrebko. True, there was a certain sameness in his phrasing and dynamics, but he was unfailingly vibrant in sound and ardent in delivery. Finley delivered a glowing, magnificent declaration of love for Musetta in Act II, and he was even better vocally in his Act III scene with Netrebko. Beczala and Finley also brought especially fine singing out of each other, and a similarity in their vocal coloring proved to be a definite asset in their Act IV duet. Bass-baritone Shenyang delivered a beautiful rendition of Colline's "Vecchia zimarra" — steely but warm, tender and well-articulated. Joined by Massimo Cavalletti's charismatic Schaunard, these bohemians indulged in high-spirited shenanigans that proved infectious.
Somehow, despite all the fine singing and acting, Mimì's death lacked an emotional punch. This may have been due to the second intermission. Act III is less than half an hour: why did we need a thirty-minute break to change scenery before the equally brief Act IV? It cut into the dramatic pacing, to say the least. In fact, it was Cabell who provided the most moving part of the last act, with Musetta's brief prayer for Mimì's life.
The Met Orchestra was at its most splendid for the occasion, with rhapsodic, silvery-toned string playing. Conductor Marco Armiliato showed fluidity with the tempos and accommodated his singers skillfully without losing momentum. 
JOSHUA ROSENBLUM
