Amanda Batista as Mimi in Wolf Trap Operas The Bohemian Friday night. Photo: Scott Suchman

The summer opera stars were ready for a delightful experience Friday night at Wolf Trap. With no rain or humidity, a cool breeze provided the ideal temperature for a nearly full house at the Filene Center, both under the venue’s roof and picnicking on the lawn. With the National Symphony Orchestra assembled in the pit, Wolf Trap Opera Company fielded a solid cast of young singers for a worthy production of Giacomo Puccini’s evergreen The Bohemian.

One singer stood out for exceptional praise. Amanda Batista, who has already made quite an impression in the Metropolitan Opera’s Lindemann Young Artist Development Program, was a consummate Mimi, both musically and dramatically. The Texas-born soprano proved the complete package vocally, with clear high Cs but more than just bravura power, with an ability to thin and soften the top notes to heartbreaking sweetness.

Batista’s portrayal of the sick seamstress wasting away with tuberculosis also rang true physically. It is doubly unfortunate that this production only ran for one night and that Batista will not be seen with Wolf Trap again this season. Opera fans should seize the opportunity to hear her with the company next season, when she hopefully returns.

Eric Taylor as Rodolfo and Amanda Batista as Mimi The Bohemian. Photo: Scott Suchman

Eric Taylor’s Rodolfo couldn’t quite match it. The Utah-born tenor, as he showed in the title role in the previous season’s edition Faustshowed energy and talent, but with some rough edges. His top notes sounded in the crucial Act I aria, “Che gelida manina”, but revealed some weakness towards the end of Act III. As an actor he captured the right combination of the poet’s expressive excesses and certainly his bereft reaction to Mimi’s tragic death.

Blake Denson, who sang Schaunard in last year’s Washington National Opera production of the opera, was also a fine Marcello. His supple baritone rang clear through the hall’s sometimes problematic amplification system, and he brought both lyrical singing and charming humor to the role of the frustrated painter. Midori Marsh gave her Musetta a sour soprano edge and clearly enjoyed the theatrics of her Waltz scene in Act II.

Midori Marsh as Musetta and Blake Denson as Marchello in Wolf Trap Operas The Bohemian. Photo: Scott Suchman

Laureano Quant’s gallant Schaunard and Le Bu’s gentle giant Colline completed an exuberant male quartet. The Colombian-born baritone provided consistent comic relief in the light-hearted movements of Acts I and IV, while the Chinese-born bass was a bookish force who was a constant force, most effectively in Act IV’s melancholy jass aria, one of the score’s many melodic highlights.

Wolf Trap Opera Studio Artists rounded out the comprimario roles, with bass-baritone Adam Partridge scoring comic points as Benoit and Alcindoro. Studio Artists also joined the chorus, which contributed strongly in Acts II and III, particularly the women’s voices. The Children’s Chorus of Washington added spice to the Christmas Eve crowd scene in Act II with charming action and vocal character.

Onstage, conductor Grant Gershon proved far more effective this time around than he had in his previous attempt at the opera in 2016. Placing the NSO in the pit rather than at the back of the stage allowed him to work more closely with the singers, but what also emerged was a more mature, developed approach to the score. Tempos bounced in the more active scenes, but Gershon wasn’t afraid to stretch out the poignant moments with plenty of rubato.

The final element of the evening’s success was the charming production by John Caird, who has previously appeared at the Houston Grand Opera and the Canadian Opera Company, among others. Caird not only kept the action within its intended time period, a choice that is rare enough among modern opera directors, but he also read the libretto consistently carefully. At the end of Act III, for example, he had Musetta leave with the man Marcello had seen her flirting with, a clever touch.

The costumes (designed by David Farley) and the acting direction, in this revival as in others by Katherine M. Carter, adhered scrupulously to the intentions of the opera’s creators. That kind of respect for the libretto is no longer taken for granted among many of today’s pushy opera directors, and Carter, of course, enhanced the dramatic effect rather than working against it.

Farley’s unusual concept for the set design centered on Marcello’s paintings. The canvas that appeared before the opera and during the intermission featured sketches of women, in a style reminiscent of Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, mixed with text. Large canvases leaning against each other formed the bulk of the structure of the attic in Act I. In the middle acts, the paintings, now depicting the Parisian scenes themselves, also formed a large part of the background. Visually appealing, the idea also cleverly signaled the imitation of art by life, and vice versa.

Wolf Trap Opera Company closes the season with a production of Kevin Puts’ Silent NightAugust 9-17. wolftrap.org

Photo: Scott Suchman

Leave a comment