Thursday, June 05, 2025

La Bohème, San Francisco Opera


Samuel Kidd as Schaunard, Bogdan Talos as Colline, Pene Pati as Rodolfo, Karen Chia-ling Ho as Mimì, and Lucas Meachem as Marcello in Puccini’s "La Bohème."

Photo: Cory Weaver/San Francisco Opera

A winning cast and sharp work by the revival director make this one a hit.

  • Joshua Kosman, On a Pacific Aisle. Loves the direction and singers, but not the conducting.
  • Lisa Hirsch, SFCV & S.F. Chronicle. At the primo, I really liked the conducting, which seemed expansive. Watching the third performance on the livestream, I found the conducting more sluggish than expansive. I'm also seeing the alternate cast, so, I'll see what I think then.
  • Lisa Hirsch, right here. I saw the alternate cast, still thought Ramon Tebar's conducting was fine. Nicole Car was very different from Karen Chia-Ling Ho, who was a shy and very sweet Mimi. Car was more extroverted and has a more pointed voice with a rapid vibrato. I liked them both - there are lots of ways to play Mimi! - but something about the sound of Car's voice had me sobbing almost as soon as she opened her mouth in Act III.
  • Joshua Kosman, On a Pacific Aisle, likes the alternate cast, still dislikes Tebar, notes that Evan LeRoy Johnson is costumed exactly like Lucas Meachem, whech is, indeed, a bad move. This wasn't the case with the opening night cast.
  • Gabe Meline, KQED
  • Michael Strickland, SF Civic Center, liked the conducting.
  • Charlies Tiee, The Opera Tattler
  • Stephen Smoliar, The Rehearsal Studio
  • Thomas May, Memeteria. "Puccini’s savvy recapitulation of musical material – most movingly in the final act’s return to the music of Mimì and Rodolfo’s first meeting – carried incalculable expressive weight in Ramón Tebar’s sensitively detailed conducting, a highlight of the production."

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