Fresh from her resounding success singing with Joseph Calleja at his annual concert in Malta, I manage to find a few quiet moments with soprano Miriam Cauchi who, despite her busy schedule speaks to me about her forthcoming per- formance of Mimí in La Bohème at the Astra Theatre in Gozo later this year.
Incidentally, the one duet she sang with Joseph earlier this month was precisely that hauntingly beautiful one from the first act of Puccini’s La Bohème. And, although it wasn’t exactly a gelida manina that I shook when I greeted her in a sweltering 38ºC, her natural warmth was, as always, endemic.
Miriam’s Mimí will be her eighth appearance in a leading role at the Astra. Patrons remember her wonderful rendering of Desdemona in Verdi’s Otello, Gilda in Rigoletto, Violetta in La Traviata, her superb Suor Angelica and, on that same evening, Nedda in Pagliacci.
The Astra Theatre, under the guidance of artistic director Joseph Vella, has always been keen to engage Miriam, in the way that the same maestro had launched an unknown young tenor called Joseph Calleja to the world, when he took a well-calculated risk and asked him to sing the role of Macduff in Verdi’s Macbeth at the theatre almost two decades ago.
Opera is not for the faint-hearted, we know that. With its hyperbolic grand gesture and grand crisis, it’s a knock-out. Preparation is of the essence in such a forum and Miriam tells me that she engages with a great deal of background work to include reading copiously anything that is relevant to the opera she is studying.
Apart from her beautiful, warm voice which lends itself so superbly to romantic opera, she is also highly intelligent and listens to diverse interpretations, which enable her to nurture a holistic approach towards the role she is tackling.
These scenes are characterised by decadence and hedonism
With Mimí, she is particularly partial to Toscanini’s interpretation and finds herself lucky to have recordings of the 50th anniversary of the premiere performance which the legendary maestro had himself conducted in 1896.
Our animated conversation turns to the verismo style that Puccini is so well-known for. Writing at a time when naturalism was de rigueur in literature, particularly with French novelists such as Flaubert and Zola, Puccini, in like manner, does not spare the audience’s feelings.
Taken from Henri Murger’s Scènes de la Vie de Bohème, the libretto is built on pictures, which are almost photographic, superimposed one upon the other depicting bohemian scenes in 19th-century Paris.
These scenes are characterised by decadence and hedonism, beneath which glittering veneer lurk physical illness, moral depravity and, necessarily, death. It’s all credit to the genius of Puccini (and his librettists Illica and Giacosa) that such fragmentary scenes as one finds in the novel, which act like recollected but dispersed memory, in the opera come across as a perfect whole, the likes of which, arguably, is difficult to find in any other Puccini opera.
Miriam argues that in Puccini, youth can only survive in memory and, in fact, the opera is replete with retrieving moments of acute significance that enable the characters to overcome their present angst. In this regard, Miriam pledges utter loyalty to the libretto. It is there that one finds the Puccini pathos, the essence of the Puccini tragic moment. This allegiance to the words also asks for the singer to liaise closely with both the conductor and the artistic director and she fully believes that not a single note, not a single rest, even, should be sacrificed for action or gesture.
Miriam has been extremely privileged that at Astra she has sung along such greats as sopranos Pamela Kucenic in Un ballo in Maschera and Liù alongside Francesca Patanè in Turandot, among others. She acknowledges that the theatre has established itself as a landmark on the cultural calendar, not only on the local scene but also internationally.
She enthuses about the wonderful and innovative productions Astra has introduced to the islands and the theatre’s policy of bringing legendary singers to perform leading roles, while at the same time scouting new local talent. This, she says, has always hit the right note, pun intended.
She fully acknowledges that, in her case, as well as in that of Joseph, the theatre has been instrumental in many ways and she emphasises that it certainly deserves all the support it can get to carry on this legacy.
We certainly look forward to La Bohème and, although Miriam’s hand may not need riscaldar, we know that our spirits will be more than ignited with her singing.
La Bohème takes place on October 29 and 31 at the Astra Theatre and forms part of the 14th edition of Festival Mediterranea and is supported by a cultural partnership agreement with the government.
Tickets are available by calling on 2155 0985 or 7925 6897, or by sending an e-mail to bookings@mediterranea.com.mt.
www.mediterranea.com.mt