Latest news with #NZOpera
RNZ News
a day ago
- Entertainment
- RNZ News
Old opera, brand new production
This audio is not downloadable due to copyright restrictions. Director Bruno Ravella Photo: Andi Crown Photography Bruno Ravella is one step ahead of the rest of the team. While NZ Opera is still performing its latest production of Puccini's masterpiece La bohème in Auckland, Ravella is already directing the chorus in rehearsals for the Wellington shows. And by the time the rest of the cast catch up, he'll be in the South Island with the Christchurch chorus. While the opera itself is well over a hundred years old, NZ Opera is presenting a brand new staging devised by Ravella. The original was set in mid-19th century Paris, but Ravella has updated it to the same city in 1947 - a time of recovery after the trauma of the Second World War. Ravella joined RNZ Concert's Bryan Crump ahead of a rehearsal with the Wellington chorus to discuss how he approaches opera, how he directs, and why La bohème works as an opera despite not really being about anything much at all. Boy meets girl, they fall in love, she gets sick and dies. Ravella says the simplicity is the opera's secret. No labyrinthian plot twists, no kings or queens, just two ordinary folk and lots of ordinary human emotion, beautifully expressed through Puccini's music.
The Spinoff
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Spinoff
Review: La Boheme is intimate but inert
NZ Opera's production of Puccini's masterpiece looks and sounds lovely, but would it work better in a different space? Operas come with their own assumed cultural cache. Even if the general public – if such a thing exists anymore – isn't familiar with specific pieces, they at least know that certain operas exist, and that if they're still being performed they must at least be a little good. The Magic Flute, The Barber of Seville, and a few other Mozarts have this level of recognition. Puccini's La Bohème – the story of doomed bohemians in love – is another one of these. La Bohème is part of the standard opera repertoire, this most recent production being the fourth time that NZ Opera have performed it since the turn of the millennium, and it is regarded as one of the best operas of all time. You might also be familiar with it as the basis for the musical Rent, but La Bohème remains a far more interesting take on the source material, as it is loosely adapted from Henri Murger's Scenes de la vie de Bohème, which nobody reading this has read. (By the way, calling La Bohème a more interesting version of Rent is a surefire way to piss off fans of both shows.) Director Brad Cohen's new take on the show relocates it to Paris in 1947 – one of those oddly specific directorial setting choices that seems trendy in this artform – but otherwise feels fairly safe. For opera, it is a remarkably small scale story. Men hang out, men fall in love, woman gets sick, woman gets sicker, people get sadder. While there are a few moments where the stage is flooded by the ensemble, for the most part we remain with our core cast. Some of the singing seems oddly underpowered, sometimes lost under the orchestra. The men in the cast suffer the most here, stuck in the uncanny valley between mimicking the physicality of dudes hanging out with each other with the need to play out to the massive venue. As the doomed Mimi, Elena Perroni fares better, helped along by a gorgeous blue dress that seems to absorb the light, and a florid physicality that immediately defines the character. However, it's Emma Pearson as Musetta, easily the most fun character in the show, who stands out. She plays all the colours of the character, her darkness and her frippery, in a way that fills the stage rather than occupies it, but she also finds intimate moments that really stick out. There is one simple gesture toward the end of the show, a flick of a hand, that was so small and so specifically human, but still stood out in the massive space. 'Why do we go to the opera?' is a question I find myself asking when I see any opera, which is perhaps an unfair thing to ask of any one show. I don't watch an episode of Severance or say, even Family Guy, and ponder the value of TV as an artform. Opera is, however, a form that I am still very much in the process of understanding, and by proxy, truly appreciating. What I love about it is the spectacle, the fact that you can see every dollar onstage, and see what happens when art is supported to achieve that spectacle. Opera is a big artform, it involves human beings going large to achieve human truths even larger. La Bohème, or at least this production of it, is not what I go to the opera for. There is an intimacy to it that is lost in the Kiri Te Kanawa, and while the set strikes an initial gorgeous image – like the memory of a Parisian apartment in 1947 dropped in a sack onto the stage, complete with a sunlight hanging over them – the effect is lessened. Similarly, the moments of snow falling from the sky is also initially impressive, even moving, but becomes less effective on repetition. The tension of this intimacy is felt by the entire production (and perhaps this is the fault of the libretto). The moments where the ensemble come onstage feel obligatory rather than organic, and Chris McRae's delightful clown Parpignol, who entertains some children, is as much a jarring intrusion as his inclusion in the second to last paragraph of this review. I wondered what La Bohème might feel like in a more intimate space, whether a theatre like the ASB Waterfront or even Q's Rangatira could capture the small moments at the heart of this show. The show feels unfortunately inert, stuck on this massive stage rather than reaching out to grab us in the stalls. As a result, I felt similarly unmoved. I appreciate the beauty, the music, and what spectacle there is, but it sits at such a distance from me that it might as well be a sculpture. As with all opera, the human truths are there, but I wish I didn't have to squint to see them.
NZ Herald
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- NZ Herald
La Boheme captivates with stunning production and powerful performances
American writer John Ardoin envied newcomers to La Boheme, discovering Puccini's evergreen score leaping to life with the freshness of a spring day. NZ Opera's new production might well have even seasoned veterans succumbing, with its opening act so smoothly gliding from the blokey banter of Rodolfo and his mates
RNZ News
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- RNZ News
Samoan opera star returns home for enduring classic La Bohème
This audio is not downloadable due to copyright restrictions. 130 years on, Puccini's La Bohème remains an enduring classic and beloved opera. At the heart it's a simple story of four friends and their lovers; passionate artists and thinkers whose daily struggles compound and their hardships become tragedies. New Zealand-Samoan baritone Benson Wilson has returned home to appear on stage as Schaunard; one of the quartet of friends. Now based in London, Benson has been firmly establishing himself as a promising baritone in the opera world. He studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and won the prestigious Kathleen Ferrier Award before relocating over there. In 2016, he's won the Lexus Song Quest and more recently - the Dame Malvina Major Foundation Mina Foley Award. He's performed with the London Symphony Orchestra, the BBC Symphony Orchestra and has studied and performed multiple languages including Russian and German. It's not his first time in this role; he made his professional debut at Festival Opera in 2016, playing Schaunard. He speaks to Culture 101 about returning home to play a familiar character with NZ Opera. La Bohème is at Kiri Te Kanawa Theatre until the 6th of June before performances in Wellington and Christchurch.
NZ Herald
25-05-2025
- Entertainment
- NZ Herald
Think you don't like opera? Let La boheme change your mind
- Tenor Ji-Min Park, who plays Rodolfo 2. Drama without missing a single word One of the biggest hesitations around going to your first opera is the understandable thought that you wouldn't have the foggiest what anyone is saying. But NZ Opera performances have subtitles projected above the stage, translating everything we sing into English. You can even get the translation directly to your device in Braille or Chinese. Think of it like a foreign film, but with an orchestra - and incredible singing. - Baritone Hadleigh Adams, who plays Colline 3. One seat, infinite art This opera is an opportunity to see multiple art forms in one sitting. There is nothing quite like bringing a group of artists of multiple disciplines (instrumentalists, singers, actors, directors, designers and more) together to tell one epic tale that has transcended the test of time and still leaves a lasting impact on its viewers. The opera is not just a night out but an opportunity to go on a journey - all from the comfort of a plush theatre seat. - Soprano Elena Perroni, who plays Mimì 4. Drama and shenanigans This opera has more drama than Shortland St, more shenanigans than Police 10-7 and a cafe that would outshine any Māngere Bridge cafe. - Baritone Benson Wilson, who plays Schaunard 5. The death you won't hear coming If you think deaths in opera are endless, loud and unbelievable, so did Puccini! In La bohème, he wrote a naturalistic death. In fact, we only realise it's happened after the fact. It's a brilliant sleight of hand. - Brad Cohen, conductor of the Auckland season 6. Your new favourite troublemaker: Musetta My character is the type of person who causes drama if they are not the centre of attention. Musetta exploits her sexuality, rages and lies to win whatever she desires. She has intense feelings for her sometimes-lover, the penniless artist Marcello, but they never last long together. In the final act, tragedy shocks her into feeling a vulnerable, deeper love for him, making this role a wonderful journey to take and a favourite for sopranos to sing. And her drama-queen antics are next level. - Soprano Emma Pearson, who plays Musetta 7. Love, loss and lots of laughs Come for the romance, stay for the freezing attic, catchy tunes and suspiciously sudden coughing. With bohemian banter, accidental arson, and an opera chorus big enough to raise the roof, who knew tragedy could be this much fun? - Bruno Ravella, director 8. Real life meets live magic What I love about this opera is how grounded it feels - the characters are messy, in love, and completely recognisable. The design feels lived in and accessible, a reflection of a world not so different from our own. I'm so excited to move into the Kiri Te Kanawa Theatre, as I hear the singers every day in rehearsal, but that first run with the orchestra in the venue always stops me in my tracks. Once we layer in the technical elements, suddenly we're in the goosebump zone that exists only in live theatre. - Chanelle Muirhead, stage manager 9. It's basically a romcom If you believe in love, you should come. If you believe in friendship, you should come. If you're sick of Netflix, you should come. It's the Love Actually of opera, and who doesn't love Love Actually? - Baritone Samuel Dundas, who plays Marcello
