La Boheme in Inverness

A few years ago I would never have volunteered to go to Inverness for anything, let alone an art form as prone to accidents as opera, because Inverness and I have History, much of it bad. I never knew what I did to Inverness but whatever it was I doubt it was as awful as the punishment the place meted out to me in return.

However of late there has been a rapprochement, probably to do with not being able to avoid it if you're a student at UHI, so I had no qualms about setting off at the crack of dawn - again - for the city on Tuesday.

And it was all fine; no delays, calm sea, I even managed to buy some clothes for the upcoming trip to Vancouver and Toronto, although Marks and Spencer let me down badly over the matter of a posh black skirt or evening trousers in my size. The conference (or World Congress as we should probably call it, that being its official title) naturally has a banquet, as all these things do, and this seemed to call for something a bit more celebratory than the brother in law funeral top, but not quite as dressy as the Duchess of Gloucester reception dress. Not that I recognised the DoG at the do, since I would not, nay, self evidently  do not, know her from Eve, but the invitation had a dress code which was why I didn't turn up to that in funeral top and trousers. ) I did get a nice top to wear to the banquet though and have mail ordered a back skirt to go with it. Hopefully it will arrive before Monday when I put the finishing touches to my packing. 

We had been offered a private look around the set before the performance began so we turned up at six and were shown around by the Man in Charge of Stage Management. The USP of this production is its extremely detailed set and we were really pleased to get up close and personal with it and see how much care had gone into making the props and so on. I didn't take nearly as many photographs as I should have done, because I was too busy listening to what I was being told but I've got a couple. 

The auditorium, seen from the stage

and a lovely Art Deco chair

my photo doesn't do it justice but it was very covetable. Also on view there is Musetta's pet leopard, naked in that photo but when it made an entrance it had a costume! - a diamanté studded collar and white leather leash. 

My favourite prop (apart from the donkey which we had part sponsored) was a plate form the Café Momus in Act 2, which had a half eaten crepe suzette on it, simply because of the thought that had gone into that. Two empty dessert plates from whoever who had enjoyed their dessert, plus a half eaten one, either because the diner was too full to finish it, or it just wasn't very good. 

As far as the production goes it was swings and roundabouts for me. Yes I can see that it's a clever idea to base  everyone in the chorus in Act 2 on a real person who was living in Paris at the time the production was set (1920s) but actually is it really a good idea? Because unless the audience has a working knowledge of jazz age Paris then most of that is going straight over their heads. The Musetta was based on Josephine Baker, that was too obvious to miss, and I saw Gertrude Stein, but after that? In any case I got distracted because right at the beginning of the act a woman pushed someone in a wheelchair upstage and , as she was wearing the most wonderful maroon coat and hat, I spent a lot  of the rest of the act trying to glimpse her again. 

The roundabout, as opposed to the swing, was the basic idea of the production, which was that the whole opera was the romantic fantasy of a very sick young woman visiting Paris before she died, and who 'becomes'  Mimi to live it out.  When I heard about this at first I thought it was a bit naff, but actually in terms of the opera it works very well and explains a few things about the plot that otherwise just have to be taken on trust or skated over. 

Performance wise it was good. The problem with every Boheme I ever see has, is that it is fighting against my almost ideal Boheme, done way back at Covent Garden. Not that I saw it live (if only!) but we have it on video. A cast to die for, with Thomas Allen as the most credible Marcello ever, Neil Schicoff at the top of his game vocally as Rodolfo, someone called  Marilyn Tschau as a really sexy but golden hearted Musetta and Ileana Cortrubas, over 60 at the time, but still more than convincing as a 20 something seamstress dying of consumption. It's on You Tube, or at least bits of it are. Worth seeking out. Now it is grossly unfair to compare young singers at the start of their careers with internationally acclaimed singers at the height of their powers but the problem is that, if you know a good performance well, then you can't not. 

None of the major roles was less than good, although the Rodolfo was a bit 'careful'; you could see him thinking about breaths and steps and note lengths. I really liked the Schaunard who had a nice voice and was a convincing actor. The girls were fine and there was nothing wrong with the Marcello and I really wish I could sound a bit more enthusiastic because it was a lovely evening, but I am struggling with this comparison thing. Luckily I think Boheme is the only opera where an almost perfect performance is so sunk into my psyche, so it shouldn't bother me again. Let's hope not. 

I'll try and get the OH to send me some of his set photos to put up next time too.