La Boheme at The Soho Theatre

After receiving rave reviews at Kilburn’s Cock Tavern, Opera Up Close has transferred its production of La Boheme to the Soho Theatre in the very heart of London. With a new English libretto by Robin Norton-Hale, this show is contemporary and relevant while leaving Puccini’s sublime music untouched.

The Soho Theatre has a great vibe. Everyone sits on long benches that are surprisingly comfortable. Andrew Charity, musical director, plays with great gusto on the piano, replacing the orchestra. He does an excellent job and showing off his dexterity and intimate knowledge of the score. The cast are strong and work well as a team. The biggest roles are quadruple cast, I saw Elinor Jane Moran as the frail Mimi: she has a sweet tone and sings well throughout, but is a very meek stage presence until the final heart-wrenching scene.

I really enjoyed watching the boisterous boys mucking around as the poor suffering students (no money for food, and yet they could afford a swish Mac laptop!). Philip Lee is an exceptionally strong singer-actor as Rodolfo and Nicolas Dwyer provides good support as a leather clad Marcello.

After the first act the applause was broken by a bellowing voice behind us, everyone was instructed to immediately leave the auditorium and make our way downstairs to the large chaotic bar area. The bar was dark, crowded and loud and reminded me of my student union at university. I noticed a dodgy DVD seller hawknig his wares on the sly and wondered how he’d managed to get into such a place. Then from nowhere a spotlight shone over us, the pianist began playing in the corner of the room and the singers appeared pushing through the crowds... the second act was underway. Using the bar as the cafe Momus is an inspired idea and works extremely well in this venue. We were back upstairs for the final act. It is an intense display that shows the performers at their very best. I found the final moments of the play very affecting, and looked round to see that I was not the only person weeping.

I fully support Opera Up Close’s work, and cannot stress how important I believe it is to bring Operatic repertoire to those who cannot afford the grandeur and cost of the ROH and ENO. However I find it strange that Puccini is a popular choice for this young company. Of all the operatic repertoire, Puccini scores entail some of the trickiest music, usually left for mature singers to tackle later in their careers. And as much as I enjoyed this production I feel the singers occasionally struggle in a way they perhaps wouldn't with a Rossini aria, or a Mozart ensemble.

The efforts of the artistic team behind this production must be commended, on a thoroughly modern and yet comprehensive version of La Boheme. A show that I thought was in many ways more believable than a more conventional Puccini staging. As expected, the vocal talent is not as impressive as the stars found in the renowned opera houses; however these are young performers who may one day find themselves in the major London theatres, and it is a pleasure to support them on their journey there.

Book tickets here.

Puccini's La Boheme at The ENO

ENO always has a diverse programme. This season they are offering up some real classics that I’m sure will be popular with the public: Handel’s Radamisto, Mozart’s Don Giovanni and of course Puccini’s La Boheme. Unlike some operas La Boheme is not difficult to follow, and the narrative moves slowly through the powerful melodies, avoiding the unbelievable twists and turns of some opera plots. Above all it is a great love story, and more prosaically a study of some young bohemians and the mischief they get up to.

I fell in love with Puccini when I first performed Tosca with Opera Holland Park, ever since I can’t help but be deeply affected by the overpoweringly passionate music. My academic experience of Puccini can sometimes lead me to be overcritical of productions I see. This time round ENO push all the right buttons for me, it is a truly enchanting production on all counts.

This is the first revival of Jonathan Miller’s production, following its initial successful run. Thanks to designer Isabella Bywater this adaptation adds something special to Puccini’s classic. The atmosphere is transporting, Miller decided to set the opera in 1930s Paris, the era after the depression, and Bywater’s vision matches the directors sentiment entirely. The evolving set made me feel so close to the great French city, and the magical mist and falling snow in the second half made me shiver. My favourite part of the set has to be the intricately decorated Cafe Momus that radiates from the centre of the stage, and is complete to the tiniest detail. I later found out the set and costumes are based on images of Paris from about 1932 by the famous Hungarian photographer, sculptor and filmmaker Brassaï.

The singers are all brilliant, but tenor Gwyn Hughes Jones is particularly spectacular as Rodolfo. (The part is split between Gwyn Hughes Jones and Alfie Boe). He commands the stage, and engulfs the tiny Mimi (Elisabeth Llewellyn) with an endearing natural charm. His voice is sensitive and yet grand and the massive ENO theatre buzzed with his presence. This is Llewellyn’s ENO debut, and I thought she did jolly well, she sings with a natural sincerity that suits the character well, her obvious excitement was very noticeable in her quite touching bow at the end of the curtain call. The rest of the cast are good too, and it is difficult to find any fault. I loved the raucous children running across the stage, all peering in to the Cafe while the bohemians are inside singing. I do prefer my La Boheme in Italian, but thought that Amanda Holden’s translation was rather comically and enjoyable.

Puccini’s music is so brilliant it doesn’t take much to make one of his operas into a good production, but this has something a little bit extra. ENO got it just right.

La Boheme continues at the ENO until 27 November 2010, book tickets here.