La Boheme-LA Opera

Steve Williams

Site Founder, Site Owner, Administrator
I must admit that in my entire adult life I had never attended the opera. My mother was always a big fan and I have fond recollections of so many operas being played in our house on a Sunday afternoon. I can recall so many of the famous opera passages being sung even though at that time I had no idea what opera was all about. I was fascinated to learn and discussed it with my wife. She too was anxious and we both found something new on our bucket list. These tickets were a birthday present from my wife and sat from November until last night when it was show time at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. We had reasonably good seats in the orchestra about 2/3 of the way back and slightly to the left of the stage. I know the story of La Boheme. In fact I have it on vinyl which we played several times before last evening's performance. So we were ready

The performance was 4 acts with an intermission and a total play time of slightly over 2 hours. The acoustics were superb and the voices of the singers were unforgettable. The costuming especially at the start of the 3rd act was a feat in itself as it reminded me of the wonderful costumes seen in Phantom Of the Opera at the start of the second half singing Masquerade.

The singers voices were wonderful especially with the superb theater acoustics.

All in all it was a fun evening and both my wife and I enjoyed the performance immensely and we both said we want to do it again, We are looking at several during the opera season such as Tosca, Aida and Mme Butterfly.

If you have never attended and want to venture out and explore I would definitely recommend an evening at the opera
 

bonzo75

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Also try Le Nozze De Figaro and Eugene Onegin, they are different from the Italian operas. A rare one I loved is Purcell's Indian Queen which is in English. And Puccin's Le Comte Ory,

You might also enjoy going to general shows where they sing different arias, instead of watching the whole Opera.
 

bonzo75

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Giacomo Puccini -- La Bohème -- Anna Netrebko, Rolando Villazón


Ah Rolando Vellizano...I have watched him live twice, once when he was alone and once when he did a show with Cecilia Bartoli
 

Hi-FiGuy

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The one opera I went to (many years ago) was at the DCP and while I do not remember who I saw or what the performance was, I do remember very vividly how fantastic the sound was both vocals and orchestra. The percussion section sounded divine.
The other thing I remember well is all the "snobby" people all dressed up in tuxes and evening gowns looking down at us lowly teens/early twenty guys dressed in street clothes.
We were there for the same reason, the music and the performance which was amazing.
After the show one of the "snobs" dared to speak to us at the chagrin of his spouse who was wearing more jewelry than my first and seconds houses cost, and said it was nice to see young people taking interest in the opera. That was cool.
 

astrotoy

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May 24, 2010
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Steve, I think Boheme is one of the best first operas. It is incredibly tuneful, relatively short, and has an easy to follow plot (Boy meets Girl, Boy loses Girl, Boy finds Girl, Girl dies). Grand opera is the most expensive of cultural experiences - with a large orchestra, highly paid solo singers, chorus, costumes and elaborate staging and scenery. We go to the opera fairly regularly - here in SF we are fortunate to have a fine opera company. What has opened live opera to a broader audience are the simulcasts held in local movie theatres around the world. For $20 or so, one can see the current opera production at the MET - at a small fraction of the cost of seeing it in NYC. Other opera companies are starting to do the same.

I was very fortunate to grow up in a family that loved opera and went to the Lyric Opera in Chicago with my parents when I was young. One of my fondest memories was seeing La Boheme in 1967, when I had come out to California for grad school. A fellow student had a ticket she couldn't use and I went. It turns out it was the official US debut of Luciano Pavarotti in the role of Rodolfo, with the great Mirelli Freni as Mimi. I had never heard of Pavarotti but came away from the performance thinking -"he's very good!" Six years later, Pavarotti and Freni made what most people think is the definitive recording of Boheme on Decca/London with Karajan conducting (recorded in 1972, released in 1973).

Since Steve and I are about same age, I can say that it is not too late for your first live opera. I've never been to a rock concert.

Larry
 

Steve Williams

Site Founder, Site Owner, Administrator
Steve, I think Boheme is one of the best first operas. It is incredibly tuneful, relatively short, and has an easy to follow plot (Boy meets Girl, Boy loses Girl, Boy finds Girl, Girl dies). Grand opera is the most expensive of cultural experiences - with a large orchestra, highly paid solo singers, chorus, costumes and elaborate staging and scenery. We go to the opera fairly regularly - here in SF we are fortunate to have a fine opera company. What has opened live opera to a broader audience are the simulcasts held in local movie theatres around the world. For $20 or so, one can see the current opera production at the MET - at a small fraction of the cost of seeing it in NYC. Other opera companies are starting to do the same.

I was very fortunate to grow up in a family that loved opera and went to the Lyric Opera in Chicago with my parents when I was young. One of my fondest memories was seeing La Boheme in 1967, when I had come out to California for grad school. A fellow student had a ticket she couldn't use and I went. It turns out it was the official US debut of Luciano Pavarotti in the role of Rodolfo, with the great Mirelli Freni as Mimi. I had never heard of Pavarotti but came away from the performance thinking -"he's very good!" Six years later, Pavarotti and Freni made what most people think is the definitive recording of Boheme on Decca/London with Karajan conducting (recorded in 1972, released in 1973).

Since Steve and I are about same age, I can say that it is not too late for your first live opera. I've never been to a rock concert.

Larry

Well FWIW Larry I waited in line for 4 1/2 hours last week to get tickets for Desert Trip to no avail.

As to the opera my wife and I are looking forward to seeing more
 

R Johnson

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Jul 24, 2010
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I'm glad to read that you enjoyed your first opera, Steve.

I was introduced to opera at the University of Illinois in Urbana - Champaign -- Wagner's "Das Rheingold" in a production designed by Wolf Siegfried Wagner a great grandson of the composer. After graduation I became a full season subscriber to Lyric Opera in Chicago. For forty-five years now....

There's lots of wonderful music to be found in the opera house!

I've also enjoyed the Metropolitan Opera's "Live in HD" series transmitted to movie theaters (and shown a few months later on PBS).
 

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