LA BOHEME | Menuhin Festival Gstaad

There are some places that become part of your personal opera calendar, and Gstaad is definitely one of mine. This was already my fifth consecutive year at the Menuhin Festival Gstaad, and every time I return, I am reminded just how special this festival is, after Tosca, Puritani, Norma… Set in the Swiss mountains, with that enormous festival tent slowly becoming an almost iconic part of the landscape, there is something wonderfully unique about coming here for an evening of music. On 21 August, my journey brought me to Puccini and La Bohème.

And what a Bohème it was.

For me, one of the main reasons I was particularly excited about this performance was Benjamin Bernheim. It was my first time hearing him live as Rodolfo, and with his upcoming debut as Cavaradossi in Tosca only a few months away, I was very curious to hear him in Puccini.

We already know what Benjamin Bernheim can do in the French repertoire. Werther, Manon, Les Contes d’Hoffmann… he has established himself as one of the most remarkable French singers of his generation. But hearing him in Italian, and particularly in Puccini, was a different kind of pleasure. His Rodolfo had the elegance and refinement we have come to expect from him, but also a warmth that suited the character beautifully. If this evening is anything to go by, I am now even more curious to hear what he will bring to Cavaradossi.

Opposite him was Carolina López Moreno, an artist I have been following for some time and whom I genuinely love hearing. She is particularly at home in Puccini and the Italian repertoire, and I had already seen her as Mimì in Roma earlier this year, where she was splendid. In fact, she was my Opera Diary Artist of the Month for January, so seeing her return to Mimì in Gstaad felt a little like meeting an old friend.

And this time she had a very special partner for the evening: Sandra Hamaoui, who played Musetta and is Benjamin Bernheim’s partner in life. The two women complemented each other beautifully, and I couldn’t help thinking that it would be rather fun to reverse the roles one day: Sandra as Mimì and Carolina as Musetta. I would happily buy a ticket for that experiment.

The two leading ladies were surrounded by an excellent male ensemble, with Lodovico Filippo Ravizza, Biagio Pizzuti and Gianluca Buratto forming a particularly enjoyable trio. Buratto gave us a wonderfully sung Vecchia zimarra in the final act, one of those little moments that can suddenly make you stop and think, “Yes, this is exactly why I came tonight.”

Another major advantage of this production was that it wasn’t simply a concert performance. Despite the very particular limitations of the festival tent, there was genuine staging, and Fabio Rickenmann made remarkably good use of the space available.

I’ve known Fabio for several years now, and it is genuinely rewarding to watch someone grow in this profession. He is passionate, curious and clearly loves what he does. More importantly, he has a wonderful relationship with his singers. You can see that he understands the music and, perhaps even more importantly, that he knows how to communicate it.

I love seeing people who are passionate about opera. I love seeing people who are interesting because of that passion. Fabio is one of them, and I have little doubt that we will be hearing his name more and more in the coming years. If the future of opera is going to be built by people who combine musical knowledge, enthusiasm and a real connection with artists, then I am very happy to see him among them.

And then there was Marco Armiliato.

What can I honestly say? I am probably not the most objective person when it comes to Maestro Armiliato. I simply love watching him conduct. After four decades on the podium, there is an extraordinary naturalness to what he does. He is musical, instinctive, generous towards his singers, and there is always something wonderfully human in the way he works.

He is also, of course, the brother of Fabio Armiliato, the Italian tenor whom I have always had a particular affection for. But on this occasion, Marco was very much the man in charge, and his reading of Puccini was everything I could have hoped for: flexible, theatrical, attentive to the voices and full of colour.

Watching him conduct in that enormous tent, surrounded by the mountains of Gstaad, was quite a beautiful way to spend a Friday evening.

So yes, the train ride there, the train ride back, and the whole journey were absolutely worth it.

Five years in a row at the Menuhin Festival Gstaad, and somehow I am already looking forward to coming back next year.

A huge thank you to everyone involved in this edition of the festival, to the artists, the orchestra, the chorus and all the people working behind the scenes to make these evenings happen. The Menuhin Festival has once again given me a very good reason to take the train into the mountains.

And if you’ve never been, put Gstaad on your opera map. You won’t regret it.

CAST

Carolina López Moreno — Mimì
Benjamin Bernheim — Rodolfo
Sandra Hamaoui — Musetta
Lodovico Filippo Ravizza — Marcello
Biagio Pizzuti — Schaunard
Gianluca Buratto — Colline
Roberto Abbondanza — Benoît & Alcindoro

Chorus: Chor der Bühnen Bern
Orchestra: Gstaad Festival Orchestra
Conductor: Marco Armiliato
Staging: Fabio Rickenmann