Sunday, April 22, 2007

"Si, Mi Chiamano Mimì" - Atto Due

In the comments to my previous post, about heading out to hear "La Bohême" Allen said, "ma il suo nome non è Lucia." He is correct. My name is not Lucia. The line that follows, "They call me Mimi," in the opera is, "But my name is Lucia." My grandchildren do call me Mimi. I answer to that name, and that's all I'll say, Allen. My real given name is "out there" in the ethers of the internet, if you search diligently. Weren't you the one who ferreted out my church parish, my ferret friend?

Also in the comments, Dennis said, "how was it?" It was wonderful! The principal artists sang beautifully. Mimi and Rodolfo's voices soared to heavenly places when they sang duets. Marcello's baritone was outstanding.

All of the principals were terrific actors, too. Musetta's acting was superb. The production moved along at a pace which left not one dull moment. The sets and costumes were traditional, but quite pleasing.

I believe that producers and directors of opera sometimes focus on the music to the extent that they forget that an opera is a musical drama. In this instance, they remembered well.

All in all, it was a lovely evening, pure pleasure.

As Mimi was dying, my cursed tendency toward irony (which sometimes intrudes at the most inappropriate moments) kicked in, and I found myself thinking that for a dying lady, Mimi was in very strong voice.

The good news is that the Mimi who writes this blog did not die of consumption, and remains in good health, but for feeling a little sleepy because of a late night out.

8 comments:

  1. Your comment about Mimi being able to sing in spite of her immminent death is so true! And often the Soprano is about 100 lbs. to heavy to be dying of Consumption.......I say that because I am a soprano, and Consumption is not going to kill me anytime soon!

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  2. Susan the two leading ladies were beautiful, along with having lovely voices. Only Rodolfo was a tad portly.

    I used to think one had to be a little overweight for the voice to be right, but these ladies proved otherwise.

    Consumption is not going to kill me any time soon either.

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  3. Glad you had a good time, Mimi. Sounds like a wonderful performance.

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  4. good to hear you had a good time.

    We are doing Boheme in a couple of weeks. I wasn't looking forward to it (the last production of Boheme I saw was, uhmmm, not too exciting), but reading how much fun you had changed my mind. Here in Seattle Mimi is being sung by Nuccia Focile. I am curious to hear her - we already have our tickets to hear her next year in both Iphigenia and I Puritani. we'll see.

    You are right about operas that forget they are supposed to tell a story. In the era before televisions and radios opera moved people to tears and fist fights. It was heady entertainment, and it could be again.

    I loved your "inappropriate" comment - we should sit next to each other at the opera. I love to say catty things through the night. I bet you'd play along. we couldn't sit anywhere near KJ because he'd be shocked and tell us to be quiet!

    glad to hear you had fun

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  5. Not an aria from an opera but the big number from the musical, "Carousel," I believe.

    MadPriest goes into hiding.

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  6. great to find opera lovers. will blog on this later. but for now my favorite operas, not necessarily in order of preference:

    madama butterfly

    la boheme

    don carlo

    werther

    lohengrin

    cosi fan tutti

    andrea chenier

    tosca

    tristan und isolde

    turandot

    back later. alice/ john

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  7. For anyone interested, here is a list of the names of the principals in the opera. Simon O'Neill, who sang Rodolfo, has a outstanding voice. He's one worth watching.

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  8. John/Alice, I left a comment to your Trollope post - that is if you can find your blog on the net. I'm only quoting your own words back to you, you know.

    Can't even find my own blog, I'm so inept on net.

    I've been laughing about that for days, because I can relate.

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