Michael Hunt's Co-Opera has set out to service the middle ground of scaled-down popular opera on tour. Now integrated as the touring wing of Opera Ireland, the company is filling the gap created by Opera Theatre Company's greater concentration on works outside the popular canon.
Hunt's new production of La BohΦme, with designs by Soutra Gilmour, comes in a new musical arrangement by Andrew Synnott (for flute, clarinet and piano trio). Gilmour's set, a straight billboarded wall across the stage, is suggestive more of outdoor space than of the indoor garret of the opening and closing acts - and stuffing a paraffin heater with paper, as the unfortunate friends find themselves doing in this production with Rodolfo's play, is certainly not a recommendable indoor pursuit. The Santa Claus outfits of Act II relieve the drabness, but hardly compensate for the bustle outside the Cafe Momus that's lost in the necessary reduction of the original setting.
The effect of the horseplay of the opening act was diminished by the balances achieved by conductor Jeremy Silver. His instrumental ensemble may be small, but, from where I was sitting, near the back of the theatre, the players, placed at the side of the stage, frequently masked the words of the singers; and problems of ensemble surfaced, too, in addition to issues of balance.
The Rodolfo of Robert Millner took some time to warm up, but when he hit his stride he proved an ardent foil to Michelle Sheridan's shy, submissive Mim∞. Sheridan sings with sincerity and conviction, and although her range of nuance is still quite narrow, she touchingly persuades you that everything she has to communicate matters greatly. These two roles are doubly cast; the other singers touring with the production are Fiona O'Reilly and David Watkin-Holmes.
Sandra Oman is a gutsily shallow Musetta, and Marcello (Michael Bartow), Colline (John Molloy) and Schaunard (Andrew Jarvis) run the gamut from boisterousness to compassion, with Peter Kent doubling up as the put-upon Benoit and Alcindoro.
