Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Puccini partisanship

Reviewing a review could get ugly.

Puccini
Puccini

This could get ugly — really ugly. I’m about to “review a review” of San Diego Opera’s La Boheme. The production closed on Sunday so now is a safe time to do this. Why don’t I just review the show myself? I’m in the show and that doesn’t work.

Interestingly, I ran into one of the Boheme cast at the gym. As we were chatting, this individual mentioned that the idea of a website that reviews and rates reviewers is an idea that has been kicked around the singer community for a while. Intriguing.

Sponsored
Sponsored

There are a few ground rules here. I was given permission to write this piece so long as I didn’t name names. I’m not going to be taking exception with specific opinions concerning the performance itself but there are a few things out there that are begging to be revisited.

Of course, things are different when there is no deadline.

One last caveat. There is a certain element of straw man argumentation at play here on my part and we need to keep that in mind.

One review claimed that traditionally things "bog down" in the third act. The review then went on to praise the third act in this production, claiming that the singing disappeared and only the drama remained.

Let's start with the obvious. Traditionally, the third act of La Boheme is considered the best capsule of music Puccini wrote. It could be a standalone piece of music. There is no "bog."

The dramatic effect is Puccini's genius. The characters of Rodolpho and Mimi reference their first-act arias brilliantly.

In the first act Rodolpho tells Mimi and the audience about his hopes and dreams. In the third act he says "Addio sogni d'amor" — goodbye my dreams of love.

Mimi then says that they will wait until spring before they break up. This is hearkening back to her first-act aria which warms the hearts and ears of everyone as she sings about her devotion to springtime.

The duet with Mimi and Marcello is absolutely glorious. It lets us see Marcello as a real human being when he drops the sympathetic tone he uses with Mimi and unloads on Musetta. It makes us wonder why he can't use the same tone with Musetta.

The answer? Because he can't.

The juxtaposition of the two sets of lovers is elegantly scored in the music as their arcs cross and set up the fourth act.

Whether or not the singing "disappeared" is a different bird and I won’t touch that one.

I’ve no issue with anyone’s opinion about a performance but when the opinion appears to be misrepresenting the music itself, in this case the third act of Boheme, then I think a little discussion is warranted.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Navy solves San Diego homeless crisis by retiring four locally moored ships

Decommision Accomplished
Next Article

Croome Brothers Trio, Jack Tempchin, Ricky, Swami & the Bed Of Nails, Kahlil Nash

Acoustic and electric in Del Mar, La Jolla, Little Italy, and City Heights
Puccini
Puccini

This could get ugly — really ugly. I’m about to “review a review” of San Diego Opera’s La Boheme. The production closed on Sunday so now is a safe time to do this. Why don’t I just review the show myself? I’m in the show and that doesn’t work.

Interestingly, I ran into one of the Boheme cast at the gym. As we were chatting, this individual mentioned that the idea of a website that reviews and rates reviewers is an idea that has been kicked around the singer community for a while. Intriguing.

Sponsored
Sponsored

There are a few ground rules here. I was given permission to write this piece so long as I didn’t name names. I’m not going to be taking exception with specific opinions concerning the performance itself but there are a few things out there that are begging to be revisited.

Of course, things are different when there is no deadline.

One last caveat. There is a certain element of straw man argumentation at play here on my part and we need to keep that in mind.

One review claimed that traditionally things "bog down" in the third act. The review then went on to praise the third act in this production, claiming that the singing disappeared and only the drama remained.

Let's start with the obvious. Traditionally, the third act of La Boheme is considered the best capsule of music Puccini wrote. It could be a standalone piece of music. There is no "bog."

The dramatic effect is Puccini's genius. The characters of Rodolpho and Mimi reference their first-act arias brilliantly.

In the first act Rodolpho tells Mimi and the audience about his hopes and dreams. In the third act he says "Addio sogni d'amor" — goodbye my dreams of love.

Mimi then says that they will wait until spring before they break up. This is hearkening back to her first-act aria which warms the hearts and ears of everyone as she sings about her devotion to springtime.

The duet with Mimi and Marcello is absolutely glorious. It lets us see Marcello as a real human being when he drops the sympathetic tone he uses with Mimi and unloads on Musetta. It makes us wonder why he can't use the same tone with Musetta.

The answer? Because he can't.

The juxtaposition of the two sets of lovers is elegantly scored in the music as their arcs cross and set up the fourth act.

Whether or not the singing "disappeared" is a different bird and I won’t touch that one.

I’ve no issue with anyone’s opinion about a performance but when the opinion appears to be misrepresenting the music itself, in this case the third act of Boheme, then I think a little discussion is warranted.

Comments
Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Angry Pete’s goes from pop-up to drive-thru

Detroit Pizza sidles into the husk of a shuttered Taco Bell
Next Article

Reader Music Issue short takes

Obervatory's mosh pit, frenetic Rafael Payare, Lemonhead chaos, bleedforthescene, Coronado Tasting Room
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.