La Boheme at the Royal Opera House: Opera review

The sets, designed by Stewart Laing, vary from squalid to sumptuous, always visually exciting, but never distracting from Puccini’s powerful music.

With Antonio Pappano conducting with perfect control, especially in his use of breathtakingly quiet passages that brought out the powerful emotions of the piece, this was a real musical treat. 

At the start, however, there was something missing.

Individually the cast was very strong, but the relationships between the characters seemed not to come out in the opening scene where a painter, a poet, a musician and a philosopher share their penniless artistic lives.

The set was as gloriously garret-like as I have seen, and the parts were sung beautifully, but the passion was missing in their technically good performances. 

When the tragic heroine Mimi entered, it improved a little as Australian soprano Nicole Car brought some heart to her singing and acting, and when the troupe moved to the Cafe Momus (here given the character of a top-class restaurant rather than the usual Paris café), the mood of the production continued to improve as Musetta, the tart-with-a-heart (deliciously played by Simona Mihai), danced outrageously across the tops of the tables manipulating her menfolk ruthlessly.

When the interval came, my verdict was girls-fine (especially Musetta), men-unconvincing.

The US tenor Michael Fabiano sang the part of Mimi’s lover Rodolfo very well, and Polish baritone Marius Kwiecen, as the painter Marcello also impressed with his voice, but the garret-dwelling artists still seemed less than a merry foursome than four merry onesomes.

I even thought this might look better when transmitted as part of the ROH Live Cinema series on October 3 as close-ups on the simgers can cover up the lack of interplay between them.

After the interval, however, things began to change as Mimi’s deteriorating health gave everyone a chance to display stronger emotions.

By the time the final act arrived, when the doomed Mimi returns to the garret to die among her friends, they had all got it right and aided by the unbeatable combination of Pappano and Puccini, this was as perfect a tear-jerking finale as I have ever seen in this opera. 

One of my favourite arias in La Boheme comes in that final act when the artists are pawning or selling their belongings to raise money for Mimi’s comfort and medicine and the philosopher Colline sings goodbye to the overcoat which has served him so well.

After the interval, however, things began to change as Mimi’s deteriorating health gave everyone a chance to display stronger emotions.

By the time the final act arrived, when the doomed Mimi returns to the garret to die among her friends, they had all got it right and aided by the unbeatable combination of Pappano and Puccini, this was as perfect a tear-jerking finale as I have ever seen in this opera. 

One of my favourite arias in La Boheme comes in that final act when the artists are pawning or selling their belongings to raise money for Mimi’s comfort and medicine and the philosopher Colline sings goodbye to the overcoat which has served him so well.

But it is not just the coat he is bidding farewell to, it is everything: the life they have known, the careless joy of their youth, and Mimi.

This can be stunning, but the depth of the song’s emotions are rarely brought out properly.

On this occasion, however, Italian bass Luca Tittoto did it perfectly.

From that moment until Mimi’s quiet death, which is marked by a discord in the music before anyone on stage realises that it has happened, the emotional tension onstage and from the orchestra grows to a stunning level. 

Before the interval, this looked like a three-star production with room for improvement, but the five-star scene at the end was magnificent. 

All in all, a very promising start to Richard Jones’ new production of an old favourite. 

Box Office: roh.org.uk or 020 7304 4000 (in production until October 10).

For the live cinema relay on October 3: www.roh.org.uk/cinemas