Swiss broadcaster adapts opera to today's TV reality to find a large, enthusiastic audience

Please take at least 5 minutes to watch this closing section from Puccini's La Bohème: -- Maija Boog is Mimi, Saimir Pirgu, Rodolfo:

What makes it special is that it was made for its medium, television. Not just a stage-to-screen effort filtered by a camera lens, it's been directed and staged in the real, contemporary world with no worry that the music would jar with the 21st century setting.

You can thank Swiss broadcaster Schweizer Fernsehen for this Bern-set La Bohème im Hochhaus (Highrise La Bohème). And, just like the Metropolitan Opera has discovered at the cinema, there's a much larger market of eager eyes and ears than they could have expected.

You can read all about Schweizer Fernsehen's successful opera-for-TV initiative in an article in today's New York Times.

Here is some Verdi in the same vein -- the 2008 La Traviata im Hauptbanhof Zürich (La Traviata at Zurich train station). Eva Mei is Violetta, Vittorio Grigolo, Alfredo, Angelo Veccia, Germont:

Comments

[Travel Master]

Hi:

I've been trying to find a complete copy of this broadcast for months, unfortunately the ARTE-TV website blocks its streaming to Canada and the few clips on You Tube are just not enough.

We were fortunate enough to have been in Paris when it aired & our hotel had HD TV, so it was stunning ... unfortunately it aired starting at just after 7pm which is mid-afternoon when your a tourist in Paris so we only saw the last half hour.

Can you please direct me to where I can buy it - stream it - anything.

Thanks,

Lee

[John Terauds]

Hi Lee,
I haven't had much luck finding the DVD. The only place I could find selling it is at http://www.westside.ch/getdoc/e6085aac-5c56-4d82-b6e9-67c54de907e8/Link.aspx?lang=en-US
Because I couldn't find it on amazon or at Riedel in Berlin, something tells me this Swiss source isn't going to work, either.

[Howard Kaplan]

Here are two more links to sites selling the La Boehme DVD.

I believe this one is a site associated with a Swiss TV network: http://www.sf.tv/sendungen/laboheme/manualx.php?docid=dvd-tipps

This is also from Switzerland, apparently a commercial DVD shop: http://www.exlibris.ch/filme/film-dvd/la-boh-me-im-hochhaus-puccinis-oper-live-aus-bern/?id=7640117266185&backto=http%3a%2f%2fwww.sf.tv%2fsfshop%2fkategorie.php%3fcatid%3d63&partner=sfdrs

I haven't tried figuring out whether either one will ship to Canada; even if so, there may be a problem with DVD region codes.