The Passion of Opera

There's something about the music of Puccini, and perhaps La bohème in particular, which naturally and yet almost manipulatively captures both a sense of place and also the fluttering emotions of humanity. Nowhere were these elements more apparent than at Ash Lawn Opera's bohème this past Wednesday, July 17th in Charlottesville, VA. Ash Lawn is a a small company, putting on just two shows in the summer (this year's second show is Carousel). Nonetheless, Ash Lawn sports a young artist program, an apprentice program, and seemingly robust successes in its performances. While it's true that Ash Lawn chose (out of necessity due to the size of the Paramount Theatre) to essentially cut the orchestra in half, the piece maintained its artistic integrity. Generally strong principles, a functionally straightforward set and costume design updated to 1896 from the original 1840s time period, and strong conducting helped bring together a performance that focused on what mat...