A welcome reprise of Zeffirelli's La Bohème at the Met

By David Browning, 25 September 2014

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Reviewed at Lincoln Center: Metropolitan Opera House, New York City on 23 September 2014

Puccini, La bohème

Metropolitan Opera

Riccardo Frizza, Conductor

Franco Zeffirelli, Director, Set Designer

Peter J. Hall, Costume Designer

Ekaterina Scherbachenko, Mimì

Myrtò Papatanasiu, Musetta

Bryan Hymel, Rodolfo

Quinn Kelsey, Marcello

Dmitry Lavrov, Schaunard

Donald Maxwell, Alcindoro

David Soar, Colline

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The Lithuanian soprano’s riveting performance as the central character in Tchaikovsky’s operatic masterpiece lights up Deborah Warner’s mostly bland production.

****1

Innocence: Saariaho’s final opera receives New York premiere

Kurt Gottschalk, 6th April

At the Metropolitan Opera, Innocence proves a gripping and perhaps divisive piece which feels real because it is a reflection of our reality, with no realistic hope of finding peace.

*****

Tristan und Isolde at the Met: staging gets in the way of the music

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***11

Ailyn Pérez is the perfect Butterfly in the Met’s revival

Robert Levine, 13th January

Good Butterflys are not that difficult to come by but great ones are very very rare. Ailyn Pérez fits the bill in this revival of Anthony Minghella’s classic staging.

*****

Vocal thrills in Met’s traditional staging of Bellini’s I puritani

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Marco Armiliato conducts a finely balanced rendition of Bellini's final masterpiece with a stellar cast headed by Lisette Oropesa and Lawrence Brownlee.

*****

Porgy and Bess returns stronger than ever at the Met

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Back to Catfish Row for another revival of The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess and James Robinson’s show continue to wow our writer.

*****

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David Browning

David Browning is a blogger and opera lover, board member and occasional advisor to some of New York City's small opera companies, and some time singer himself. Although he trained for a career in opera, a life as a technology consultant found him.