A favorite opera of many is La bohème, which has always been among the top three most produced operas in the USA, and has seen its share of AVA singers portray the characters in this opera. In January two AVA alumnae did their turn as the fateful Mimi.
Ellie Dehn was preparing for her debut as Mimi with Minnesota Opera (where she sang Juliet to James Valenti’s Romeo a few seasons ago). She made lots of press in opera circles for stepping into the role a few months earlier by replacing a colleague at San Diego Opera. This was her company debut in San Diego, but she is no stranger to Southern CA. She made her debut last season for LA Opera as Freia in their production of Das Rheingold by Wagner.
LA Times said of her performance, “She stepped onto the San Diego Civic Center stage on opening night and sang Puccini’s fragile heroine for the first time with an expansive, clear tone and simple, straightforward characterization.”
You can hear her Mimi again with Minnesota Opera from March 6-14 as she teams up once again with AVA alum James Valenti.
Just a few states away, Elaine Alvarez coughed and expired as Mimi on the stage of Arizona Opera, also in January. Elaine made opera circle headlines a few years ago when Chicago Lyric Opera brought her in at the last minute to replace the star Mimi of that production. The Chicago Tribune said of her performance, "As the consumptive seamstress Mimì, Alvarez on Monday revealed an appealingly natural stage presence and a big, vibrant lyric soprano the color of deep burgundy. The voice bloomed under pressure the way you want a Puccini voice to bloom, yet kept its warm tonal finish when she floated the high pianissimos opera lovers wait for in rapt anticipation”
Elaine is no stranger to Puccini characters. She opened the 2009 – 2010 season with her Oper Frankfurt debut in La bohème. She’s back there now for concert performances of La rondine for Frankfurt's Alte Oper. That is followed by a much-anticipated Florida Grand Opera debut in her hometown of Miami as Micaela in Carmen.
Don't miss AVA's production of La bohème, May 1-15 in Philadelphia, Bucks County, Montgomery County and Camden County.
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