Nick to perform songs from La Boheme

xantha

Saturday 19th December 2009

West Road Concert Hall, Cambridge 7.30pm

After the success of last year’s Die Fledermaus, the Cambridge Philharmonic is proud to present a concert performance of Puccini’s La Bohème. One of the world’s best-loved operas, Puccini’s tragedy is set on Christmas Eve in the Bohemian Paris of the 1830s. A glittering cast of international soloists is led by Bonaventura Bottone and Linda Richardson, whose portrayal of Puccini’s heroine for Opera North was described by the Manchester Evening News as “... the most genuine Mimì - and one of the best sung - you are ever likely to meet.”

PUCCINI La Bohéme

Soloists include:

Mimì Linda Richardson
Musetta Tinuke Olafimihan
Rodolfo Bonaventura Bottone
Marcello Mark Holland
Schaunard Nicholas Garrett
Colline Stephen Richardson
Conductor Timothy Redmond
Cambridge Philharmonic
Orchestra & Chorus

Tickets (reserved): £12, £18, £24

Box Office: 01223 503333 (Cambridge Arts Theatre)

Online: www.cam-phil.org.uk

Connie · Joined: Mar 02, 2006 Posts: 383

I love the opera La Boheme. I'm sure Nick will have a great time performing with such an incredible cast.

xantha · Posted: Mon Nov 02, 2009 9:50 pm Post subject:

Press Release from Cambridge Philharmonic....

Not a dry eye in the house – the world’s most popular opera comes to town

After the triumph of last season’s concert performance of Die Fledermaus, The Cambridge Philharmonic society is performing the world’s most popular opera, Puccini’s La Bohème in concert, with international soloists, a full orchestra and chorus.

When, in the darkened loft where he lives with his bohemian companions, the poet Rodolfo first touches the hand of the beautiful seamstress Mimi, the song of wonder and introduction he sings (your tiny hand is frozen) is perhaps the most famous operatic aria ever written. It is lush, romantic and piercingly beautiful, and Mimi’s reply, telling him all about herself, is equally beautiful. By the end of the first act, as they leave to join Rodolfo’s friends at the Café Momus for a night of fun and festivities the struggling artists can barely afford, they are head over heels in love. Nothing, surely, can go wrong.

La Bohème was loosely based on Scènes de la vie de bohème by Henry Murger who described the subject matter of his novel as “le stage de la vie artistique; c'est la préface de l'Académie, de l'Hôtel-Dieu ou de la Morgue” (a stage in artistic life, a preface to the academy, the hospital or death) – a kind of 19th century version of the hippie dream.

And what a dream! In Puccini’s opera, Rodolfo and his friends live the carefree penniless lives of exuberant young artists. Marcello the painter (Rodolfo’s friend and flatmate) has a beautiful ex-girlfriend Musetta, who in a blazing act 2 aria lights up the stage with her glorious fun and sensuality – all at the expense of her aging lover. What fun!

But things can and do go wrong. Marcello and Musetta argue all the time. Rodolfo and Mimi’s intense passion doesn’t last even though we know (despite their apparent cluelessness) that they still love each other. And when in the last act, she turns up in that communal loft, brought in by Musetta who has found the abandoned seamstress sick and unhappy on the streets, it is clear to everyone that she is dying. Marcello, Musetta and their artist friends run to sell their last belongings to buy medicines, while Mimi and Rodolfo rediscover their love. But it is, of course (this is opera, after all) too late. Mimi dies and Rodolfo, in a great heartwrenching cry of grief, realises what he has lost as the curtain falls.

And if you can listen to all that without shedding a tear, there is no romance in you! Especially since Mimi will be sung by Linda Richardson, a principal with English National Opera, and Rodolfo is Bonaventura Bottone ‘every inch the lusty Rodolfo’, according to review in a Sydney newspaper. And the Cambridge Philharmonic Society is thrilled to welcome back Tinuke Olafimihan who thrilled audiences in the Philharmonic’s last operatic outing with her beautiful singing and effervescent wit.

Don’t miss your chance to laugh and love and cry, just a little, at this sweet story, wrapped, as it is, in the most romantic operatic score ever composed.

West Road Concert Hall, Cambridge, Saturday 19th December 2009, 7.30 pm.
Conductor: Timothy Redmond
Tickets £12, £18, £24 (subscription discount available)
Cambridge Arts Theatre Box Office (01223 503333) or online at www.cam-phil.org.uk

xaria · Posted: Tue Nov 03, 2009 8:53 pm Post subject:

Goodness I'm going to have a busy few days - Nick, Thomas and All Angels, all within the first few days of the hols!

I bet Nick will make a wonderful Schaunard. Smile

And La Boheme is a stunning opera. x