OPERA REVIEW : ‘La Boheme’ Replacements: Some Push and Pull

As the new Mimi in Puccini’s “La Boheme” for Music Center Opera, Julia Migenes offered a portrayal so dramatically detailed, nuanced and persuasive on Tuesday at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, that it was hard to believe she was singing the role for the first time.

An exceptionally attractive singing-actress, Migenes rejected the take-charge interpretation of her predecessor. She gave no early interested glances up to the Bohemians’ apartment. She blew no candle out as a pretext for knocking on the door. She fell in love gradually, haltingly, shyly.

It was, in that sense, a traditional portrait. But Migenes never relied on the routine, the generalized or the easy. Even the illness ravaging Mimi unfolded in discrete stages. The consumptive coughs were few, but they hurt the audience.

Vocally, matters were far more problematic. Migenes revealed a dark-toned, focused but small soprano, all too readily overwhelmed by the orchestra or her colleagues, especially her Rodolfo, Craig Sirianni (previously reviewed, as was the rest of the cast).

She also favored stretching out tempos. But she never indulged in matter-of-fact delivery. The two were related and, in fact, her pacing and flexible, expressive musicality in interpreting text did create certain problems.

Randall Behr, the conductor taking over the podium from Placido Domingo, for instance, sometimes appeared discomforted.

Generally, Behr led with brisk efficiency, strong accenting and disregard for lingering lyricism. He also inherited from his predecessor occasional problems of synchronizing voices and orchestra.

But then he ran smack up against Migenes’ probing of emotional values in the music. Too often, the push and pull between them could be palpable. Migenes at least had Puccini on her side. She and the conductor will appear in the final performances, tonight and Sunday afternoon.