Tenors come in two main varieties: bel canto (which means ‘beautiful singing’ in Italian) and lyric. Bel canto tenors have light, melodious voices that cope brilliantly with the fast passages and vocal gymnastics flung at them by such 19th-century composers as Rossini and Donizetti, while lyric tenors sing more deeply and passionately in more serious roles such as Puccini and Verdi liked to write for them.
For the past 25 years, Juan Diego Florez has been supreme in the world of bel canto, easily reaching the notes most other tenors strained to reach, displaying excellent comic timing and coping without apparent effort with the fastest and most difficult passages any composer could challenge him with.
Florez will celebrate his 50th birthday in January and his current appearance as Rodolfo in Puccini’s La Bohème gives London audiences a chance to relish his new lyric voice, which is just as glorious as the bel canto singing we have enjoyed for so long.
Rodolfo is one of four artists living together in a garret in 19th-century Paris, cold, and poor but happy in their scrounging Bohemian existence. Into their lives, however, comes Mimi, just as poverty-stricken as them but already showing signs of the illness that will prove fatal.
While they are relaxing, however, the scene is stolen by Musetta, the slutty girlfriend of Rodolfo’s friend Marcello, wonderfully played by Australian-born soprano Danielle de Niese. I have seen Richard Jones’ glorious production of La Bohème several times since it first appeared in 2017 and this scene grows more imaginatively funny every time.
On this occasion, de Niese’s climbing onto the tables while singing and striding across them while also removing her knickers and throwing them at Marcello was outrageously capped by first Marcello then her planting a sumptuous kiss on the lips of the same total stranger.
The American soprano Ailyn Pérez sang and acted the role of Mimi beautifully, powerfully charting the character’s transition from shy neighbour to trusting lover to tragic heroine and her duets with Florez were glorious to listen to.
Turning as familiar an opera as La Bohème into a special and memorable experience is a rare achievement, but the entire cast seemed to relish the experience of working together and they produced a glorious evening and the best Bohème I have ever seen.
In production until 17 November. Alternate cast, also very impressive, for some performances.