Interludes

VIEWPOINTS – At THE SANTA FE OPERA, insightful young singers enliven the warhorses LA BOHÈME and THE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO

• By drediman
• July 8, 2025
• No Comments

Over the holiday weekend, I ventured out west to attend a couple of performances at the famed Santa Festival Opera, a summertime destination for opera fans — and a bucket list item for many of those who haven’t yet been — who enjoy their opera gloriously al fresco. Commencing the company’s 2025 season are two warhorses that have been brushed off by insightful up-and-coming singers and thoughtfully considered productions.

LA BOHÈME
The Santa Fe Opera
In repertory through August 23

First up was James Robinson’s staging of La bohème (RECOMMENDED). Based on the 2001 production put on by the now-defunct New York City Opera — also directed by Robinson and featuring the carefully conceived sets of scenic designer Allen Moyer — this version of the evergreen opera updates the action from mid-nineteenth century to 1920s post-war Paris, thereby infusing the familiar story with the youthful, albeit short-lived exuberance of the era. Having been exposed primarily to the Metropolitan Opera’s mammoth Zeffirelli production, it’s refreshing to see La bohème brought down to a human level once again (apart from the panoramic Act Two Parisian street scene, the opera is essentially made up of intimate, emotionally-charged exchanges between its characters). The success of the production is by and large due to the compelling efforts of the young cast, led by Chinese tenor Long Long as Rodolfo and American soprano Sylvia D’Eramo as Mimì. Long brought a secure, rich sound to his vocal performance as the ardent writer, while D’Eramo brought a lovely sensitivity to her acting and occasionally blooming color to her singing as the sickly seamstress. Also noteworthy in his American debut was the robustly-voiced Polish baritone Szymon Mechliński, as well as American soprano Emma Marhefka in a vocally and dramatically stylish performance as the fiery Musetta. Rounding out the cast — in vocally solid, if slightly less memorable acting turns — were Mexican-American baritone Efraín Solís and American bass Soloman Howard as Schaunard and Colline, respectively. Collectively, they were convincingly tight-knit as Parisian Bohemians living each day as it comes. As for the music-making in the pit, conductor Iván López Reynoso brought Puccini’s famous score to life with ample color and a keen attention to the drama at hand.

THE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO
The Santa Fe Opera
In repertory through August 22

Then there’s the return of the company’s beautifully calibrated production of Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro (RECOMMENDED) helmed by Laurent Pelly (New York opera-goers may recognize his directorial work in the Metropolitan Opera’s inspired productions of Massenet’s Manon and Donizetti’s La fille du régiment). Resetting the opera to the 1930s just prior to World War II, the production can be seen as a companion piece of sorts to Robinson’s La bohème, particularly in their depictions of budding love in unsettled times. I also took to Pelly’s visual conceit of the opera as a unfolding in a mechanical Victorian toy theater — an apt presentation of the work’s farcical elements within the context of larger societal expectations and norms — that eventually breaks down (no spoilers here!). The revival is also notable for hosting the American debuts of three talented global singers in the opera’s primary roles — Italian bass Riccardo Fassi in the title role, French baritone Florian Sempey as Count Almaviva, and Spanish soprano Marina Monzó as Countess Almaviva. Fassi brought an amusingly physical comic flair to Figaro, as well as a sturdy instrument that anchored every scene he was in. Even better as the embittered husband-and-wife couple of the Count and Countess were Sempey and Monzó, each of whom brought out their characters’ conflicted, layered humanity, all the while elegantly handling the score’s vocal requirements. Also worth mentioning are soprano Liv Redpath’s practical, vocally radiant Susanna and Chinese mezzo-soprano Hongni Wu’s Cherubino, a creation that hilariously oozed youthfulness and sexual yearning. The Santa Fe Opera Music Director Harry Bicket affectionately conducted the hit-laden score with a freshness that moved the eventful plot forward with buoyancy.