Nashville Opera strives for a fresh take on La Boheme
by Martin Brady
- Reed Hummell
- Janinah Burnett and Jonathan Boyd
Been wondering what's going on in that gleaming white contemporary building in Sylvan Park by Nashville Ballet's Redmon Street facility? That's the Noah Liff Opera Center, Nashville Opera's new administrative home. The $6 million, 26,000-square-foot center radiates a clean, transparent feel, has plenty of comfortable office space and houses a marvelous rehearsal hall whose impressive dimensions assure a seamless transition to TPAC's performing spaces.
While the Liff Center has been functional since September, the official ribbon-cutting ceremony takes place April 30. There's a gala fundraising event on May 2, followed on May 3 by the Liff Center Festival, which is open to the public and features various musical and child-friendly activities.
Meanwhile, artistic director John Hoomes mounts La Boheme, Giacomo Puccini's opera revolving around the lives and loves of struggling young Parisian artists. This is Hoomes' third local version of the piece since 1995, and the fifth of his career.
"Traditionally, a company of our size will do the great warhorses every five to seven years, and they're fantastic pieces," says Hoomes, who faces the challenge of evoking something new in something otherwise familiar.
"There are certain musical passages that time out precisely," he says, "because that's how Puccini wrote it. He's very controlling—making it almost director-proof. But there are other places where you can interpret. I've found that what I want out of Boheme now—more than before—is to work the piece so it feels more real, more emotional, more often."
Acts 1 and 2 are mostly comedic, as we're introduced to the colorful characters and their carefree (read: impoverished) ways. Act 3 becomes heavier with its deepening portrayal of the love relationship between the consumptive seamstress Mimi and the poet Rodolfo.
"We've intentionally pushed Act 3 to be more emotionally raw than sometimes you see it," Hoomes says. "There's a lot of sadness and loss that comes into the piece, but thankfully, when it reaches a point that becomes almost unbearable, Puccini breaks it with humor."
Hoomes' staging promises a relatively short, compact evening—four acts are compressed into three, with two intermissions. That won't change the score, of course, which features some of the most stirring and delicate music in the repertoire, including the timeless arias "Si, mi chiamano Mimi" and "Quando me'n vo" as well as the brilliant Act 3 closing quartet, "Addio dolce svegliare..."
Fortunately for Nashville audiences, most of the principals have had prior opportunities to sing their roles. "That's always an advantage," says Hoomes. "Unlike straight theater, our singers arrive knowing the words and music. Yet [these performers have never] worked together as an ensemble in these roles, so there's always that first couple of days where people are feeling each other out."
Soprano Janinah Burnett makes her Nashville debut as Mimi, while tenor Jonathan Boyd returns to Nashville Opera in the role of Rodolfo. Handling the roles of the secondary love interests are soprano Caitlin Lynch as Musetta and baritone Corey McKern as Marcello.
The score is in more-than-capable hands. Maestro Christopher Larkin was last seen in Nashville in 2003 when he conducted the previous production of Puccini's opera. In leading the Nashville Opera Orchestra, he'll be toting up his sixth Boheme credit overall.
"This is going to be different from any previous Boheme we've done here," says Hoomes. "It feels like it's going to be a more validly dramatic and musical opera—both elements working at the same time. That's the goal, at least."
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