| La bohème | Opera Australia |
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Puccini's irresistible romance, La bohème, opens Opera Australia’s 2008 Summer Season on 4 January 2008 at the Sydney Opera House. Hye Seoung Kwon stars as Mimì and Aldo Di Toro is her lover, Rodolfo, in this edgy production from director Simon Phillips, conducted by Italian maestro Giovanni Reggioli.
Simon Phillips, artistic director of Melbourne Theatre Company, has directed many productions for Opera Australia, including Lulu, Falstaff and The Elixir of Love. He originally conceived this production as 'a boheme for the twenty-first century', tapping into Puccini's realistic portrayal of an artist's life in Paris, and updating it for a contemporary audience with the help of designer Stephen Curtis. Besides the arias and duets, which everyone knows and loves, it features some riotous crowd scenes and even a break-dancer.
La bohème is a tale of young love and has been cast with some of Opera Australia's leading young artists. A graduate of the Moffatt Oxenbould Young Artist Program plays the leading lady, Mimì: Korean-born Hye Seoung Kwon has had great success as the slave girl Liù in Turandot, Oberto in Alcina and the Countess in The Marriage of Figaro. Antoinette Halloran takes over the tragic role of Mimì later in the season. Halloran has spent the last year on stage and screen, appearing in Opera Australia's Sweeney Todd and A Streetcar Named Desire as well as one of the judges on ABC TV's Operatunity Oz.
As the poet Rodolfo, Opera Australia presents Aldo Di Toro and Warren Mok. Di Toro is an Australian tenor based in Italy. He made a triumphant company debut as Alfredo in La traviata in 2007 and has sung alongside Yvonne Kenny in London's Holland Park Opera. The second Rodolfo, Warren Mok, is a versatile artist who divides his time between performing and the artistic directorship of the Macau International Music Festival and Opera Hong Kong. Joining them are bohemians José Carbó/Barry Ryan as Marcello, Jud Arthur/Richard Anderson as Colline and Warwick Fyfe as Schaunard with John Bolton Wood as their landlord Benoit. And the show-stealing role of Musetta goes to two Opera Australia favourites, Amelia Farrugia and, later in the season, Taryn Fiebig.
Puccini's La bohème is an operatic best seller, second only to Madama Butterfly in terms of frequency of performance (according to recent Opera America statistics). In spite of its popularity it is, in its own way, revolutionary, taking the spotlight off the kings, queens, warriors and heroes of nineteenth-century opera to focus on more realistic subjects. The story tells of a group of friends - a poet, a writer, a composer and an artist - living in Paris at the turn of the century. Money is tight but love is free and the romance between the poet Rodolfo and seamstress Mimì inspires some of the most touching music ever written.
To conduct Puccini's intricate and captivating score is Giovanni Reggioli, an Italian conductor based in Washington where he works with Plàcido Domingo on Washington Opera's Vilar Young Artists Program. Reggioli made an outstanding debut with Opera Australia in 2006 conducting Falstaff. This is his fourth production for the Company.
On Saturday 2 February 2008 Opera Australia will also give a free performance of Puccini's La bohème in the open-air auditorium of Sydney's Domain at Mazda Opera in the Domain. An additional seven performances of La bohème will be presented in Opera Australia’s winter season on October 14, 18(mat), 20, 22, 25, 27, 29.
Conductor – Giovanni Reggioli (to 30/1/08) Tom Wood (from 4/2/08)
Director – Simon Phillips
Rehearsed by – Simon Phillips
Scenery & Costume Designer – Stephen Curtis
Lighting Designer – Matt Scott
Assistant Director – Cathy Dadd
2nd Assistant Director – Christopher Dawes
Mimi – Hye Seoung Kwon (to 9/2/08) Antoinette Halloran (from 14/2/08)
Musetta – Amelia Farrugia (to 30/1/08) Taryn Fiebig (from 4/2/08)
Rodolfo – Aldo di Toro (to 9/2/08) Warren Mok (from 14/2/08)
Marcello – José Carbó (to 30/1/08) Barry Ryan (from 4/2/08)
Schaunard – Warwick Fyfe
Colline – Jud Arthur (to 5/3/08)
Richard Anderson (from 14/3/08)
Parpignol – Jin Tea Kim
Alcindoro/Benoit – John Bolton Wood
Customs Sergeant – Abraham Singer
Customs Officer – Tom Hamilton
Opera Australia Chorus
Chorus Master – Michael Black
Assistant Chorus Master – Kate Golla
Australian Opera and Ballet Orchestra
Opera Australia
La bohème
Puccini
Performed in Italian with English surtitles
Venue: Opera Theatre | Sydney Opera House
Evenings: January 4, 8, 11, 16, 19, 23, 25, 30; February 4, 6, 9, 14, 16, 21; March 5, 14, 20 @ 7.30pm
Matinee: February 23; March 1 at 1.00pm
Free Opera Talks: February 4, 9; March 1 – 45 minutes before performances
Tickets: $65 - $246
Duration: 2 hours and 30 minutes including two 20-minute intervals
Bookings: Opera Australia Ticket Services on (02) 9318 8200 or www.opera-australia.org.au, Sydney Opera House Box Office on (02) 9250 7777 and Ticketmaster 1300 136 166
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