Puccini: La Bohème Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.5

Puccini: La Bohème Blu-ray Movie Review

If it's Tuesday, this must be Puccini.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman July 29, 2010

Did someone go and create a “La bohème of the Month Club” and not tell me about it? Sometimes it seems like it, what with the glut of Blu-ray versions of Puccini’s venerable ode to art, love and abject poverty which seem to litter my mailbox seemingly every few days. Let’s review, shall we? We’ve had the film version, the English National Opera version (sung in English, in case you were counting), and the Madrid version (reviewed by Svet Atanasov here, but which I reviewed for another site for whom I was working when the Blu-ray was released). This doesn’t include the handful of non-region A releases which have also dotted the landscape. Can there be too much of a good thing? Director John Copley, whose 1974 mounting of La bohème has become a staple of the Royal Opera House and which is recreated here (under the auspices of Copley himself) in a 2009 production, argues fairly convincingly that one can never have too much La bohème. And while that may indeed be true, one is still left with the lingering questions of which production is preferable (if any), and why. I can state fairly unequivocally that each of the La bohèmes released thus far has their own particular (and sometimes peculiar) charms, as well as their own individual failings. What this particular iteration has going for it is an abundance of period charm, including gorgeous sets and costumes (if strangely inadequate lighting), a rather fierce and idiosyncratic reading of the score by Latvian conductor Andris Nelsons, and some appealingly lyrical performances by its Rodolfo (Teodor Ilincai) and Mimi (Hibla Gerzmava). If it comes off as a bit of a museum piece, something incredibly artfully staged by sometimes having the emotional impact of a department store window dressing, that doesn’t necessarily make it less of an enjoyable evening, just a different sort of one.

The struggling artists perservere through the cold Parisian winter.

The problem (or perhaps saving grace) with La bohème is that it doesn’t easily lend itself to “Eurotrash” revisionism, with a leather clad, bondage prone ensemble and sets that are like a Danilo Donati wet dream. There are, of course, attempts to differentiate any given production from others, as in the ENO outing mentioned above, which updates the setting to at least a partially more modern time and, as noted, translates the libretto (sometimes not very gracefully) into English. John Copley takes exactly the opposite tack, anchoring this Bohème about as resolutely in tradition as could be hoped for by any operatic purists, aided and abetted by the period sensibilities of production designer Julia Trevelyan Oman. This results in a fairly predictable evening that has its share of theatrical wonderment (notably the charming snowstorm sequence), while never even coming close to pushing any particular envelope. This is perhaps, therefore, the perfect production with which to make your acquaintance with Puccini’s masterpiece, if for some reason you’ve been living under a rock and not been exposed to it previously.

While from a production design standpoint, and largely a performance one, this is about as staid and stolid a La bohème as anyone could rightfully expect, from a musical standpoint, specifically from a conducting one, it’s often odd and frankly more than a bit unusual. From the first, glistening moments of the motive with which Puccini opens his first and last acts, conductor Andris Nelsons takes things at such an insanely fast pace that the nuances of Puccini’s wind writing is left somewhat ragged. This same rush to the finish line hampers some of the opera’s more towering arias, notably Musetta’s “Quando m’en vo” where Inna Dukach struggles unsuccessfully to keep Nelsons’ orchestral punctuations in time with the langorous tempo she’s at least attempting. While Nelsons does better in several other scenes, notably the tragic finale, the overall feeling is of a conductor attempting to put his own boisterous interpretation on a score which doesn’t need it, especially when this particular score breathes “legato” and “rubato” as few others from this era do.

The only other niggling qualm with this production is the odd decision by lighting designer John Charlton (after William Bundy, according to the liner notes) to bathe the opera in dark and drab tones, making large sections of Oman’s set impenetrable. It may be perfectly appropriate for the garret scenes, and indeed things lighten up considerably in the restaurant segment in Act 2, but when one is greeted with such an impeccably constructed set, one tends to want to see it!

I’ve made no bones about my personal distaste for insane reimaginings of classic operas, so I suppose it’s hypocritical of me to complain at all about this La bohème. Indeed, there really isn’t much to complain about here, but there is still an odd, emotionless aspect to this performance that keeps it from being completely enjoyable, even by an avowed traditionalist like yours truly. Museum pieces are all fine and well, but unless that history comes alive for the audience, it’s a second hand experience that never touches the heart. While this Bohème does ultimate reach for the hearstrings, especially in the thrilling and aching final moments, it’s a reach that only grazes the emotions, rather than grabbing them and throttling them for all they’re worth. There may not therefore be much of an overwhelming catharsis here; instead, there’s the sure and measured, and quite beautiful, pace of an informative trip through a museum.

Puccini: La Bohème Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Aside from the lighting issues alluded to above, La Bohème's AVC encoded 1080i image is nicely sharp, with excellent black levels helping to at least partially alleviate the often overwhelming darkness. Aside from Musetta and the restaurant scene, there's not an awful lot of color here to contend with, but what we're offered does display a nice gradation of shades, and detail is good enough that the artists' shabby clothing can be seen in all its raggedness. The snow scene comes off quite well in this production, with each flake clearly visible against the pale backdrop. For saturation and a robust palette, the restaurant scene at least partially perks up the proceedings, but overall this is a rather painterly approach (appropriate, of course), which favors texture over eye popping visuals.

Puccini: La Bohème Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Both of the lossless tracks on this Blu-ray are quite good, though occasional balance issues do occur. I opted for the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix, which certainly presents a nicely spacious soundfield, within the rather narrow confines of the Royal Opera House. The LPCM 2.0 track, which I spot checked, is really surprisingly narrower, especially when compared to other Opus Arte releases, where the differences between the 5.1 and 2.0, while noticeable, aren't quite this abrupt. The 5.1 mix is best in the glimmering orchestral passages where Puccini's orchestral magnificence spills through the speakers with excellent dynamic range and wonderful clarity. Tis same magnificence does tend to overwhelm the singers some of the time, so that lower registers in particular tend to get buried underneath the orchestral mass. A lot of listeners are probably going to be more confounded by conductor Nelsons' tempi than anything, so the fidelity of this recording will probably be the last thing on their minds (or ears), but overall this is an excellent recording of one of Puccini's most effortlessly magical scores.

Puccini: La Bohème Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Aside from the cast gallery, the disc includes two HD interviews, one with director Copley (4:09) and the other with conductor Nelsons (3:57), wherein both men talk about their backgrounds with opera in general and La Bohème in particular. The insert booklet has a fascinating essay about the origins of the opera, and Puccini's "contest" with Leoncavallo to see who could set the source material most effectively.

Puccini: La Bohème Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

If you're an ardent traditionalist, you'll be hard pressed to find much to complain about in this Bohème. If you're a really curmudgeonly, persnickety traditionalist (as am I), you may question the curious lack of overwhelming emotion in this production, as well as some of the tempo markings by conductor Nelsons, but those are ultimately probably pretty minor quibbles. This is a lovely physical production, with strong and lyrical performances by the doomed lovers, and it comes recommended.