Past Production Reviews
2Calgary Opera’s production of Puccini’s imperishable La Boheme opened its 48th season last week for a three performance run at the Jubilee Auditorium. It is easy to dismiss La Boheme as an over-performed opera, but if one were to count hands, I wonder how many people in the audience were seeing their first production of this evergreen work? I had the sense that for all the old-timers in the audience there were equally as many for whom this was their time seeing the opera. And it seems that of the members of the CPO, roughly half were playing their first performance. What is old is new again.
Baritone Peter McGillivray is also to be celebrated in his role as the buffoonish Doctor Bartolo. McGillivray’s resonant singing filled the auditorium with a vibrant sonority that helped translate the comedic vision for his character to the audience. McGillivray’s Bartolo was an audience favourite for good reason: he embodies the essence of his character, and backs it up with rich, round singing.
