The Florentine Opera still has one more night of La Boheme, the tragic tale of Mimi and Rodolfo, this tuesday May 3rd at the Marcus Center for the Performing Arts. I have little to add (for once) to Tom Strini's review in the Journal Sentinel (he'll be shocked).
Since the Florentine's previous performance (November 1997) is still fresh in my memory, let me just say the actors managed to generate the type of electricity of passionate love between the couples, and a real sense of comaraderie among the friends. Marcello and Musetta, Rodolfo and Mimi, generate a real energy that makes what would normally be implausible melodrama into seemingly real passions, a step up over the last production.
The set in act II is a real disappointment, crowding a wild and raucous street cafe scene into looking like a cramped version of the bar in Cheers.
But do not miss this opera if you can at all help it. New director Lillian Groag told Tom Strini in an interview with the Journal Sentinel that she hoped this was the beginning of an ongoing relationship with the Florentine Opera. Wisconsinites should be so lucky.
