LA BOHÈME – PUCCINI
Presented on Apr 29, May 1, 3, 7, 10m at the Gaiety Theatre Dublin as part of the Dublin Grand Opera Society’s Spring Season
Veronica Dunne – Mimi
Giuseppe Zampieri – Rodolfo
Sandra Baruffi – Musetta
Giulio Fioravanti – Marcello
Gino Belloni – Colline
Arturo La Porta – Schaunard
Brendan Cavanagh – Benoit
Joseph Flood – Alcindoro
Karl Rankl – Conductor
Sydney Russell – Producer
In that 1952 spring season [Veronica Dunne] also sang her favourite role of Mimi in “La Boheme” before a packed ‘house’ and in Italian. Her Rodolfo was the Italian tenor Giuseppe Zampieri, who cut a romantic figure as poet and lover, and sang with a beautiful, ringing tone. His fellow countryman, the baritone Giulio Fioravanti, also won praise for his portrayal of Marcello, while Sandra Barufti revealed a richness of vocal quality as Musetta. It would appear that everyone, including the chorus and producer (Sydney Russell) shared in what one evening music critic described as one of the best “Bohemes” he had witnessed in forty years of opera-going in Dublin. TRIUMPH FOR DUBLIN SINGER IN BOHEME proclaimed the Evening Mail, and from all accounts, it was an accurate summing up of Veronica Dunne’s Mimi. The critic stated that she ‘added lustre to the part and her singing and acting showed a maturity surprising in one with so little experience of grand opera.’ The Evening Herald noted, ‘The Clontarf girl was portraying Mimi, the little dressmaker for the first time; she brought to the role the very ecstasy of youth. The notes were beautifully shaped, the Puccini melodies lay easily on the clear, spring-like voice. This was a Mimi of heart-touching quality, notably in the “Farewell” aria of the third act.’ The- only jarring note came in the paper’s final comments about the production: ‘There was new scenery. The garret and the gateway to Paris were the most effective sets. The square near the Cafe Momus looked, however, like a medieval German town – it certainly wasn’t Paris. The snow-making apparatus at the start of the third act was unsound: the flakes fell like feathers from pillows torn open by a naughty child.’ At the final curtain, it seems, there was ‘terrific enthusiasm displayed,’ with the principals being recalled repeatedly, and Veronica Dunne being showered with bouquets. The Italian artists must have thought for a moment they were in Naples or Venice. ‘I shall never forget the applause I received,’ she said. ‘The cheers still ring in my ears to this day.’
(Extracted from “Love and Music: The Glorious History of the Dublin Grand Opera Society” by Gus Smith, 1998)
Opera in Ireland 