Romanian-British soprano Nelly Miricioiu made her Metropolitan Opera to debut as Mimi at a matinee performance of LA BOHEME in the Autumn of 1989. It was one of those incandescent performances in which an imaginative artist with a distinctive voice made thrice-familiar music sound strikingly fresh.
Metropolitan Opera House
October 28th, 1989 (matinee)
LA BOHÈME
Mimì....................Nelly Miricioiu [Debut]
Rodolfo.................Richard Leech
Musetta.................Myra Merritt
Marcello................David Malis [Debut]
Schaunard...............Vernon Hartman
Colline.................Stephen Dupont
Benoit..................Italo Tajo
Alcindoro...............Italo Tajo
Parpignol...............Meredith Derr
Sergeant................Frank Coffey
Officer.................Ray Morrison
Conductor...............Donato Renzetti
This is what I wrote in my opera diary about Miricioiu's performance that afternoon:
"In her Met debut, Nelly Miricioiu created an ideal Mimi. From the moment she stepped onstage, the character and the interpreter were totally united in one of those rare operatic assumptions where everything seemed perfect.
The Miricioiu voice is unusual: not sumptuously rich, but hauntingly uneven, with a Callasian veil over the tone at times. Magda Olivero was frequently brought to mind, but Miricioiu's timbre is more reedy and darker than the great Magda's. With this strange and rather unpredictable instrument, Miricioiu displayed a fascinating palette of colours, from delicate pastels to an acidic silver-blue.
Bewitching turns of phrase kept one glued to the soprano's every utterance; Mimi's tender and pathetic love was expressed in a multitude of vocal detail, yet there was no trace of artifice in any of it. Add to this her rather 'plain' attractiveness, her graceful figure, and her total perfection of movement and gesture, and...voilà: Miricioiu is Mimi.
"Mi chiamano Mimi" was so natural - not so much an aria as a portrait of the seamstress, deftly drawn. On the climactic high-C of the love duet, there was a noticeable widening of the vibrato, but not in the least off-putting. She made the most of all the little phrases at Momus, and gave a fascinatingly desperate and sad account of her woes to Marcello in Act III. The "Addio" was so hushed, so resigned and full of quiet despair ("...torna sola Mimi...), the ending barely breathed out, her back to the audience and taking Rodolfo's hand.
Miricioiu's final scene summarized that particularly vulnerable quality that underscored everything in her portrayal. Spellbinding...captivating: insufficient words for what she accomplished."
Thus, it seemed that, in Ms. Miricioiu, The Met had found a new artist to treasure; but strangely enough, after a few more Mimis, she was not heard there again until 2004, when she sang three performances of Elena in I VESPRI SILICILANI. Meanwhile, her career had flourished in Europe and she recorded bel canto operas for Opera Rara. In 2007, the soprano appeared in a gala concert at New York City Opera singing "Robert, toi que j'aime" from Meyerbeer's ROBERT LE DIABLE; the voice was sadly depleted, though in matters of interpretation she was persuasive.
Here are some samplings of Nelly Miricioiu's singing; as you listen to them, you'll understand why I could not choose just one:
Nelly Miricioiu - La Boheme ~ Donde lieta usci
Nelly Miricioiu ~ RONDINE - Sogno di Doretta - Wigmore Hall 1986
Nelly Miricioiu - L'altra notte - MEFISTOFELE - Dutch Radio 1987
Nelly Miricioiu & John Brocheler - THAIS ~ final duet - Amsterdam 1985