The Stage Upstages Art

La Boheme, Metropolitan Opera House Franco Zeffirelli  manages to upstage the action in this opulent and overstaffed production at the Met. The scenery is gorgeous, and lit with a painter's eye, which all serves to overwhelm the singing of this perennial favorite. Yet, though somewhat unbalanced, the show -- with marvelous actors and singers -- can't fail but enthrall audiences; at the end of the day, this is exactly why you go to the Met. Of particular note, is the second act which takes place nominally at a streetside cafe.  Zefirelli's staging of this overwhelms the Met's already enormous proscenium with multiple levels of a Paris streetscape and -- honestly -- some one hundred dressed Parisiens. Daniel Oren's conducted the orchestra through the delicate Puccini score and coaxed lush colors and tempos at just the right times.  I'm not one to judge singers' voices, but to my ear Elena Evseeva's Mimi was wonderful, delicate and robust (even on her deathbed); her duets with Vincenzo La Scola's Rodolfo were quite magnificent.