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# Kicking off my 60th Met Season with BOHEME
- URL: https://oberons-vale.ghost.io/kicking-off-my-60th-met-season-with-boheme/
- Published: 2026-09-28T11:37:20.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-29T10:26:35.000Z
- Author: Oberon

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/d4/f9/d4f9c027-5a59-47b4-a6ef-cadbd0b728ad/content/images/2026/09/feola-musetta-c-final.jpg)

Above: Rosa Feola as Musetta; a MET Opera photo. 

\~ Author: Oberon

Sunday September 27th, 2026 matinee - Actually, the headline is a bit mis-leading, as I had seen eight performances at The Old Met (starting in 1963) before the house at Lincoln Center opened sixty years ago. But I usually think of my *real* life as having started in 1966 when I left behind the small town - and my miserable high school days - and came to NYC on my own for the first time. I realized then that my destiny lay here in Gotham. Still, it took another 32 years to reach my goal of living here...*and* as a married man - something I could never have foreseen.

**BOHEME** has been with me since the whole opera obsession started: the Act I arias and love duet for Mimi and Rodolfo were on a 2-LP set of Verdi and Puccini which my parents gifted me on my 12th birthday. The singers were Victoria de los Angeles and Jussi Björling, and their voices are the ones I always think of when the Puccini masterwork comes to mind. 

This afternoon, we had a Spanish conductor, new to The Met: Ramón Tebar. The cast was led by Juliana Grigoryan and Freddie De Tommaso (stepping in for Stephen Costello) as Mimi and Rodolfo. Rosa Feola took on Musetta today, singing opposite the Korean baritone Hansung Yoo as Marcello. One of my favorite singers - Cardiff Singer of the World 2021: Gihoon Kim - was back as the musician Schaunard, and the impressive voice of Le Bu anchored the ensemble as the philosopher Colline.

It was sad to see so many empty seats at The Met this afternoon; perhaps the weather played a part in it. 

Maestro Tebar overall made a fine impression, though at times he let the orchestra swamp the voices; he brought forth some details in the score that I had never noticed before. The orchestra sounded especially fine today, with some notable solo work from the individual first chairs. I have moved this season from house left to house right, in the hope that the sometimes over-powering brass section might be somewhat tamed. It seems to have done the trick.

The first voice to be heard was that of Hansung Yoo as Marcello. He had made a very fine impression on me with his Ping in TURANDOT last season, and his singing this afternoon - from start to finish - was really impressive. His Musetta today was Rosa Feola, whose Violetta last season was simply spectacular. Together, they made the opera's "second couple" an essential part of the sonic structure. Ms. Feola's Waltz was enticing indeed: she played with the words (and with the dynamics) to fine effect, capping the big ensemble with a bright top-B.

Juliana Grigoryan's Mimi is so lyrically appealing, bringing *piano* effects to her singing that made her vulnerability palpable. Her hauntingly lovely outpouring of "...*ma quando vien lo sgelo.*.." in her Act I aria was followed in the love duet with a poignant, gorgeous "*Vi starò vicina*!" In Act III, her duet with Hansung Yoo was a highlight of the afternoon, and her heart-rending "*Sono andanti..*." as she told Rodolfo of her enduring love for him, seemed to hold the house under a spell. Ms. Grigoryan's whispering of Mimi's final lines seemed almost to come from beyond the grave.

Freddie De Tommaso, already busy with Macduff in the new MACBETH, gallantly took over for Stephen Costello as Rodolfo. I am not sure whether the Mr. De Tommaso got to rehearse with Maestro Tebar; there were moments when they parted company. The tenor also showed passing traces of sharpness, but the overall impact of De Tommaso's generous, warmly Italianate singing was striking. His Act I aria was full of passion and tenderness in equal measure, and his Act III scene with Marcello - describing his hopeless anxiousness over Mimi's illness - was thrilling. The Chinese basso Le Bu sounded splendid all afternoon, and his Coat Aria, so expressively sung, crushed me with its tonal beauty and deeply moving inflections. Gihoon Kim has made a star turn out of Schaunard. It was so wonderful to hear him again at The Met; I do hope he will be back in NYC soon, in a more prominent role. 

Having three Asian gentlemen in leading roles today was special to me; I had hoped to meet all three at the stage door, but after a very long wait, only Mssrs. Yoo and Bu had emerged. Ms. Feola passed by, pausing to sign; such a beautiful face...and voice.

*\~ Oberon*