Zach Top La Bohème: Norwegian National Opera (Jensen) [Blu-ray]

Rodolfo Diego Torre Marcello Vasilij Ladjuk Mimì Marita Sølberg Musetta Jennifer Rowley Colline Giovanni Battista Parodi Schaunard Shane Lowrencev Benoit/Parpignol/Alcindoro/ Toll Gate Keeper/Death Svein Erik Sagbråten Conductor Eivind Gullberg Jensen Director Stefan Herheim Set & Costume Designer Heike Scheele Lighting Designer Anders Poll Dramaturgy Alexander Meier-Dörzenbach Norwegian National Opera Chorus Norwegian National Opera Children's Chorus Norwegian National Opera Orchestra Stefan Herheim, one of the world's most sought after operatic directors, superimposes the modern over the traditional in this dramatic and thought provoking new version of Puccinis La bohème. Freedom, love, and even death all demand a price that must be paid and the opera opens with Mimì (Marita Sølberg) dying of cancer in a modern intensive care unit; the overture begins just after the ECG machine displays its unmistakable flat green line. With Norway's internationally renowned Eivind Gullberg Jensen conducting, the production reaches superb heights of operatic drama. Review 'The director Stefan Herheim creates productions that are larger than life: intellectually charged but joyously theatrical. Little of his work has been captured on DVD, which makes this "Bohème," which he made for the Norwegian National Opera, a must-have. Mr. Herheim deconstructs the traditional sets of the company's previous production, creating a mixture of old and new with a sober twist: Mimi dies of cancer at the start, and the opera is reconfigured as Rodolfo's refusal to admit it. The production is a surreal, moving experience: sometimes mystifying but ultimately haunting.' --The New York Times, 23/11/2012 'The cast's singing is clearly invigorated by these fresh staging ideas...Tenor Diego Torre has a wonderfully robust high C; soprano Marita Sølberg is a stylistically Italiante as any Mimì I've ever heard. Don't schedule any social engagements after watching this. You might not be in any shape to keep them.' --Gramophone, February 2013, David Patrick Stearns