Turin.(International)(Opera Review)

In 1996, the Teatro Regio staged a production of La Boheme to celebrate the hundredth anniversary of the opera's first performance. The staging, by director Giuseppe Patroni Griffi and scenographer Aldo Terlizzi, featured a largely veteran cast--headed by Luciano Pavarotti and Mirella Freni, then both in their early sixties--that inevitably shifted attention from the characters being played to the performers themselves. When the same production was revived for the opening night of the 2004-05 season (seen October 12), Puccini's youthful masterpiece seemed much fresher and more involving than it did eight years earlier. The bohemians appeared genuinely cold in Act I and spontaneous in interaction, even in the often-embarrassing mock fight in Act IV, and Rodolfo and Mimi appeared totally, captivatingly in love--not with themselves but with each other. Terlizzi's sets, respectful of tradition, rich in atmosphere and acoustically functional, were no longer a mere framework for star performances but real places to live and die in.

Not that stars were lacking on opening night: neither Roberto Alagna (Rodolfo) nor Angela Gheorghiu (Mimi) allowed any element of routine or complacency to dull their well-oiled performances. The tenor was announced (to the usual groans) as recovering from a cold, and a slight coarseness in certain open-throated climaxes seemed to confirm that, yet he avoided downward ...