Like clockwork, every five years San Diego Opera mounts a production of Puccini’s La Bohème, arguably the most popular opera in the canon. While this regular schedule fills seats in Civic Theatre and keeps patrons writing generous checks to the company, it is no guarantee of memorable performances.

Polish tenor Piotr Beczala is Rodolfo and American

soprano Ellie Denh is Mimì in La Bohème.

^{Photo © Cory Weaver}

Indeed, most of the local La Bohème productions have evaporated from my memory, with the exception of Luciano Pavarotti’s 1980 appearance as Rodolfo, the only time he graced a stage production here. And I recall more the scandal surrounding that production than its music.

When then gerneral director Tito Capobianco decided he would add another performance to the run, Pavarotti demanded that in the added opera, his current “protege” Madelyn Renee be substituted as Mimi in place of the contracted soprano Diana Soviero. Pavarotti got his way, which made Soviero understandably livid, and the subtext of Puccini’s most famous pair of on-stage lovers was not a pretty sight to behold.

This season’s opening night (Jan. 30) brought the amazing Polish tenor Piotr Beczala to San Diego for the first time, and it was a night for anyone who loves great singing to treasure, a performance that will not easily fade from the memory bank. Beczala sang Rodolfo with passion and conviction, allowing the soaring Puccini melodies to deliver their emotional punch on his rich, Italianate spinto tenor voice.

A voice that is full and radiant, one that does not thin out or strain at the top of the range—this is what Puccini calls for, and what the crop of younger tenors that has appeared over the last decade lacks. Beczala sang and acted the lovestruck poet with ease, flexibility and a natural grace, a rare combination for the opera stage, especially when these graces are attached to such vocal prowess.

In truth, the quartet of male leads in this production sounded unusually robust and well matched, youthful singers who inhabited the characters of these Left Bank rebels with good-natured abandon. Jeff Mattsey puffed up the ego and bravado of the painter, Marcello with his large, burnished baritone, and he admirably paired Beczala in their fourth-act duet. Baritone Malcom MacKenzie, who was such a standout as “Sharpless” in last season’s Madame Butterfly, made the most of Schaunard the musician, wringing the appropriate bonhomie or pathos out of every phrase. Bass-baritone Alfred Walker put a thoughtful point on the young philosopher Colline and his star turn, the aria of farewell to his coat (which he decides to sell to pay for a doctor to attend to the dying Mimi), was unusually heartfelt and supple.

The young American soprano Ellie Dehn stepped in with less than a month’s notice to sing the role of Mimi when the German soprano Anja Harteros bowed out of San Diego`s production for personal reasons. I predict that this is a role that Dehn will grow into, for her soprano has the strength, color and clarity to make Mimi winning.

But I was underwhelmed by her first act, “Si. Mi chiamano Mimi,” because it lacked emotional depth and did not project the luminous character that attracted Puccini to Mimi. I sensed Dehn‘s greater confidence in her third-act dialogue with Marcello, but for the opera to work, the audience must be completely taken with Mimi at first glance, as is Rodolfo.

There was much to admire in soprano Priti Gandhi’s Musetta, her first time with this role. Like Dehn, I think she will grow into it, and certainly more sophistication in Musetta’s swagger would make her persona more attractive and sympathetic.

E. Loren Meeker’s stage direction captured the playful aspects of the interactions of Puccini’s bohemians, but Meeker too frequently pushed the jovial towards slapstick, especially in the Café Momus scene. Please, this is not Rent, it is still 19th-century opera. Karen Keltner, the company’s resident conductor, drew a vibrant reading of the score from the orchestra, and Timothy Todd Simmons’ chorus added harmonious hubbub to the second act.

John Conklin’s jaunty set design, inspired by the posters of Toulouse-Lautrec, seemed brilliant some 20 years ago, but both their charm and colors have faded over the years. The costumes from Seattle Opera, designed by Martin Pakledinaz, set new standards for drab, with the unfortunate exception of Musetta’s garish yellow dress—yes, that blinding rain-slicker yellow—for the Café Momus scene. Did Seattle Opera give these costumes away?

PRESS HERE for PROGRAM and BIOS