La boheme -Puccini The Opera Nationala Re publica Moldova is back in these islands for a prolonged tour - 34 performances in 43 days - that began its Irish leg in Clonmel's Regal Theatre on Wednesday.
I caught up with the company last night, when the work on offer was Puccini's La boheme. The Moldovans' house style on tour appears fairly basic. The Boheme set, with its converging, tapered side walls, created a wedge of stage space that was constricting of movement and queueinducing for entrances and exits (a real nuisance for the bustling activity of Act II). The nicely-preserved, red velvet upholstered chair that was the centrepiece of Act I seemed out of place for its eminent pawnability in the quarters of people desperate enough to burn their own writings for warmth.
Cogency, then, is not the name of the Moldovans' dramatic game, and "never mind the quality, feel the width" might be the slogan for much of the singing and orchestral playing, as heard in the warm and lively acoustic of the Regal Theatre. The musical stiffness and competitive forwardness of the orchestra under Nicolae Dohotaru may well have forced the issue for the singers, but Nicolai Busuioc's ardent Rodolfo (pressing even when the notes weren't quite there) and Elena Gherman's strident Musetta didn't seem to need much encouragement to aim for the thrills of volume.
Italian soprano Antonella Tegliafilo sought for a more rounded portrayal, as did the stalwart Petru Racovita as Marcello. They helped raise the encounters of Act III to a level of potent poignancy. Otherwise the salient quality of this Boheme was its momentby-moment gusto, with a style of free emotionalism in the singing that's rare enough on the operatic stage these days. The Clonmel audience took to it with real enthusiasm.
Opera Nationala Republica Moldova's La boheme can be seen at the University Concert Hall, Limerick (tonight), and at the Belfast Waterfront Hall (Wednesday 5th). La traviata visits Limerick (Saturday 1st), the Cork Opera House (Sunday 2nd) and Belfast (Tuesday 4th). The company also presents a "Grand Opera Night" at the National Concert Hall in Dublin on Monday 3rd.
