Review: Minnesota Opera stages a most entertaining and energetic ‘La Bohème’

It’s estimated that more than a trillion cicadas will be serenading the nation this summer, as the 13-year emergence of one brood will coincide with the 17-year cycle of another, a convergence that happens every five or six years. On a similar schedule, you’ll be able to experience the emotion-packed arias of Giacomo Puccini’s “La Bohème,” via a Minnesota Opera production.

Yes, Puccini’s opera is such a guaranteed crowd-pleaser (and box office booster) that it’s found its way into the company’s season every six to eight years since 1989, not to mention an outdoor semi-staged version to celebrate the company’s 50th anniversary in 2013.

But the incarnation that opened Saturday night at St. Paul’s Ordway Music Theater is the most entertaining and energetic “La Boheme” among the half-dozen I’ve experienced, and quite possibly the most well sung, as well. Boasting a very creative design scheme and performers throwing themselves into their roles enough to inspire tears both onstage and in the house, it’s a production ideal for audiences of all experience levels.

“La Bohème” is the ideal opera for a newbie, as it tells a relatable tale of artists living in poverty in mid-19th-century Paris. In this case, a poet, painter, musician and philosopher share a garret atop a Paris building, experience love both fresh and smoldering, and delight in what the city has to offer.

Director Rodula Gaitanou has clearly convinced her cast to tap into their sense of fun, for these “bohemians” are a lighthearted lot, laughing at life and giving the impression that they’d be in a celebratory mood even if our story didn’t begin on Christmas Eve. That’s when new resident Mimi seeks a flame for her candle and finds one for her life in poet Rodolfo. Theirs is a romance that burns quickly (zero to deep devotion in a matter of minutes) but has declined at the same rapid rate as her health after intermission, sending us toward a tearful conclusion.

In between, the audience is treated to the most vibrant Parisian street scene I’ve found in a “La Bohème.” There’s a little subplot going on in every direction you look, even as our eyes and ears are drawn to the cauldron of desire and jealousy brewing between Rodolfo’s painter pal Marcello and the proudly promiscuous Musetta.

Who you’ll find singing the lead roles will depend on which performance you attend, as Rodolfo, Mimi and Marcello are double-cast over the course of this production’s nine performances in 16 days.

On opening night, Won Whi Choi was a Rodolfo of magnificent voice, belting the best melodies with passionate power yet never overdoing it on the melodrama. Speaking of power, Melinda Whittington as Mimi could blow your hair back in the top balcony with her electrifying high notes. And she offers a refreshingly playful portrayal that fits well with the perpetual party enjoyed by this artistic retinue, complemented by magnetic portrayals and magnificent singing from Joo Won Kang’s Marcello and Keely Futterer’s Musetta.

Conductor Christopher Franklin keeps the passion paramount in both cast and orchestra, and the sets of takis and costumes of Trevor Bowen help make this “La Bohème” as much a feast for eyes as ears.

When: 7 p.m. Thu. and Sat., 2 p.m. Sun., through May 19.

Where: Ordway Music Theater, 345 Washington St., St. Paul.

Tickets: $27-$245, available at 612-333-6669 or mnopera.org.

Rob Hubbard is a Twin Cities classical music writer. Reach him at wordhub@yahoo.com.