I suggest you do everything possible to acquire a ticket for tonight’s (final) performance of Puccini’s tragic opera at the Bristol Hippodrome before the tour moves on to Llandudno, Plymouth and Southampton. I have never heard the Welsh National Opera deliver a more sumptuous evening’s music – this was memorable singing and orchestration backed by uncomplicated, empathetic direction and design.
We start in I840s Paris. In a garret flat up amongst the rooftops, four wannabe creatives living hand to mouth attempt to keep the cold at bay by burning their own manuscripts in a rudimentary stove. Designer Stephen Brimson Lewis’s minimalist room is dominated by the backdrop of a frosty sky and city landscape beyond. A simple single doorway, a tall window and only a few essential props are all that are employed to embroider the first scene, into which roommates Rodolfo the poet and Marcello the painter are joined by their friends Colline the philosopher and Schaunard the musician. Exchanging banter and angst over the rent and where the next meal is coming from, these ‘bohemians’ are about to experience a bleak Christmas until love turns their lives inside out, and their resolve is put to the test.
Fellow tenant Mimi arrives asking for help to light her candle and search for her key. Rodolfo comes to her aid, and the two are immediately attracted to one another. The first of their duets is a soaring and lovely aria in which Rodolfo explains who he is. “Happy in my poverty, I pour out poems like a prince. I’m a millionaire in spirit.” Dominick Chenes plays Rodolfo. His poignant tenor blended seamlessly with Jessica Muirhead’s effortless soprano as the ailing Mimi, “in the dream I long to dream forever,’ filling the hall with intense and extraordinarily beautiful counterpoint. Combined with the excellent WNO orchestra led by conductor Manlio Benzi, this was Puccini at his heart-pounding, heart-rending best.
As foil to Rodolfo and Mimi’s bourgeoning romance, the passionate Marcello, Gary Griffiths, and the fiery Musetta (“This rush of desire fills me with pleasure!”) played by the effervescent Laura Fagan, turned in firecracker performances as jealous lover and temptress. Griffiths’ warm baritone was a delight all evening, while Fagan simply owned her role with electrifying effect.
The two couples were given excellent support by the peerless bass of Jihoon Kim as Colline and the silky baritone of Gareth Brynmor John as Schaunard. The ensemble came to life in a sizzling second act reminiscent of a Manet café scene.
Brimson Lewis’s skill as a set designer, linking with Tim Mitchell’s subtle lighting was most evident at the start of Act III, in which a Paris tollgate is portrayed at dawn, swathed in mist and with snow falling. Both magical and bleak, this was an entirely appropriate backdrop to Rodolfo’s growing anxiety for Mimi, and Marcello’s growing exasperation with Musetta. The couples separate, but find redemption of sorts during the final scene.
As well as sweeping us up with Puccini’s glorious melodies throughout this performance, the singers’ understated body language always gave their performances plausibility. This was a memorable night at the Hippodrome – there were cries and roars of approval, and no doubt a few tears, at the final curtain. ★★★★★ Simon Bishop 30th March 2017
