Bohème (Golovneva)

 

Puccini La Bohème opera to libretto by Giuseppe Giacosa and Luigi Illica. Directed 2014 by Orpha Phelan at the Malmö Opera. Stars Olesya Golovneva (Mimì), Joachim Bäckstöm (Rodolfo), Vladislav Sulimsky (Marcello), Maria Fontosh (Musetta), Daniel Hellström (Schaunard), and Miklós Sebestyén (Colline). Christian Badea conducts the Malmö Opera Orchestra & Chorus and Malmö Children’s Chorus. Choreography by Lynne Hockney; stage and costume designs by Leslie Travers; lighting design by Thomas C. Hase. Directed for TV by Volker Werner. Released 2017, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA

Early YouTube clips about this production (which seem to have been withdrawn) suggested to me tacky updating. But it did seem to me that the singing is better than the mise-en-scène and that Olesya Golovneva is more appealing than the artwork of her on the keepcase. Henson Keys, writing in the November 2017 Opera News (52-53) goes all out in support of this Bohème.  He says,"Golovneva is the most touching Mimì of my many experiences with this opera." Wow! He further praises all the rest of the cast as "youthful, fresh-voiced singers who are also superb actors." So this may yet be a hit even with all the competition of other Blu-ray Bohèmesnow on the market.

Here are a couple of official clips about the Malmö effort:

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