Met Live in HD; Transposing Bohème? Thoughts on the Met Encore

Ramón Vargas knows poets Live in HD: he has been Lensky in Eugene Onegin and Rodolfo in La bohème.

In this bohème, when Mimì (Angela Gheorghiu) knocked on his door, Rudolfo charmed but also made attraction seem real. Vargas interacted well with other characters onstage. He demonstrated Vargasian humor with a nimble crawl at [1:44] only seconds before his aria. This drew chuckles from the popcorn faithful. His warm voice projected sincerity and made the juxtaposition between funny and romantic a success.

One of the reasons that Vargas sounded so warm is that the entire aria was transposed down a half-step; from D-flat to C. During the film broadcast I couldn't figure out where it happened--somehow we were in the wrong key. It was as surprising as Mimì's visit.

At [1:26] the clarinets sustain the third [EG]. The transposition happens as soon as the strings move away from that third. They should play [E-flat and A] but play [D and A-flat]; and as simple as that we are on a different track.

Getting back was even easier. There is always applause after Rudolfo's aria. The orchestra simply began Mimì's aria at pitch.

There is a long tradition of transposing to accommodate singers, and Vargas is a vocalist known for warmth and color rather than endless high register. The change makes the high C on "dolce speranza" a high B, and takes the edge off the other ledger line singing in this aria.

Still, it is disorienting--for more than five minutes we are off-key. The entire stretch of music is designed to make us feel something for D-flat as being essential to this moment. In "Donde lieta usci" in Act III, D-flat major returns when Rudolfo and Mimì contemplate separation. We missed the connection.

Is messing with a thoughtful tonal structure worth whatever is gained in transposition?

La bohème in Moonstruck

Opera can intersect our lives in unexpected ways.

In the 1987 movie "Moonstruck," Loretta (Cher) is a person who has never attended an opera. She is invited to the Met by the brother of her fiancée, with whom she is having an affair. The deal is that if he can have the two great passions of his life together at the same time he will be able to end their relationship and re-enter his life.

Loretta slowly prepares herself. She transforms herself by coloring her hair at the Cinderella Boutique. She contemplates a special dress and a pair of heels that remind us of Dorothy's ruby slippers.

As Loretta looks out on the Lincoln Center Plaza, music from La bohème sounds. A quotation of music from the opening of Act III is spliced into instrumental music developed from Rudolfo's Act One aria "Che gelida manina," as Loretta sees Ronny (Nicholas Cage) by the fountain.

As they turn to enter the Met, music from the opening of Act II invokes the Parisian Latin Quarter on Christmas Eve. To enter the Met is to leave the world behind. The cues from La bohème in this scene establishes an unsuspected connection between the opera, and attitudes that the characters are developing.

The operatic exerpt shown within the movie is from Act III. The music begins in D-flat major. With Mimi's first words, "Bada" (Listen) the music suddenly brightens into A-major:

"Listen, under the pillow I left my pink bonnet."
"Se vuoi, Se vuoi" (it's yours, it's yours)"

In the next line the A dominant seventh harmony that Mimi has been singing turns augmented sixth and shifts back to D-flat major.

"Keep it as a memory of our love."
"Addio, addio senza rancor." (Goodbye, no regrets).

Loretta realizes that this event is a pink bonnet--a memory of love that they must leave behind. It is A major within the context of D-flat major.

Opera intersects our lives in unexpected times, unexpected places.