Above photo by Karin Cooper; Photo right courtesy Teatr Wielki

2007

La Bohème

The Kennedy Center
Washington National Opera

This was a new production from Teatr Wielki-National Opera in Warsaw.

The simulcast was beamed to a giant video screen on the Washington Mall and to movie theaters and universities in 31 cities around the country.

REVIEW

Thousands of visitors to the Mall enjoyed perfect weather and a free simulcast of the Puccini opera, which benefited from the close-ups and crosscuts that cameras could provide. I found this modernist production much more effective on the screen than I did in the Opera House. Yesterday, watching this “Bohème” was like watching a film with close-ups, pans, crosscuts and other cinematic touches that humanized the action and made it all seem much more intimate.

Tim Page, The Washington Post