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.

Madama Butterfly (or Bangkok Butterfly) at The King's Head Theatre

With some experience of London’s newest, littlest opera company, I knew not to expect the obvious when I rocked up to the press night of Madama Butterfly at the King's Head. The opera is often heralded as Puccini’s best, though it has never been my favourite. The narrative is less gripping and the music less alluring than Tosca, in my opinion anyway. The little theatre was full to the brim, we were warned when entering that we may have to squeeze up to make room for late audience members (the seats are benches so it’s easy to shuffle along). It was good to see the venue full, and definitely created a buzz for the first night.

OperaUpClose once again shows that this genre doesn’t have to be stuffy and grand, taking classic repertoire and giving it a drastic modern makeover. The libretto has been translated into a new, funnier version by Adam Spreadbury-Maher (designer) and Ben Cooper (producer). The concept is hard to swallow initially, Butterfly is a 15 year old ladyboy in Thailand, and arrives onstage with her entourage – suitably called Gaga, Whitney, Britney and Beyonce! After a short disco party with some rich Americans, she is married to the smarmy Pinkerton. Having wooed her he then leaves her for three years promising to come back but in fact returns only to show her his new bride. And as Butterfly poignantly puts it, ‘how can she compete with a real woman’. Completely bizarre and yet strangely affecting.

Margaret Cooper is glorious as Butterfly, she soars with ease though the sorrowful top notes and seems to relish the melodies (Puccini has given most of the good ones to her!) She has a quiet energy that comes through in her endearing characterisation of the lonely young girl. Pinkerton is less impressive and seems to struggle with some of the trickier passages, it sounded as if he was perhaps suffering from a bit of winter flu. Alison Dunne is absolutely wonderful as Butterfly’s loyal maid, Suzuki. She embraces the Thai culture so naturally I felt totally convinced that she was a Thai maid.

I always look forward to the little child at the end of this opera, though in this production the human is replaced by a rather terrifying puppet. With all the other surprises I guess I shouldn’t have been alarmed, but I found the whole idea rather distracting, especially as the puppet requires three actresses to move it, crowding the tiny stage.

All in all a daring production showcasing some vibrant young talent. With such reasonable prices there is no excuse not to check out The King’s Head Theatre.

Madama Butterfly continues until 23 January 2011.

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.

Puccini's Tosca at the ENO

The Original Poster for Tosca

The opera Tosca is, above all, an epic love story. Every year you are sure to find Puccini's masterpiece on somewhere, this summer it is being performed at the ENO.

My first encounter with the opera was at the age of 15 when I was given the part of Shepherd Boy (in my case they made it into Shepherd Girl) at Holland Park Opera. The power of the music blew me away, ever since it has been my favourite opera. This time around the music moved me close to tears.

The ENO's production is stunning. The three central protagonists: Tosca, Scarpia and Cavaradossi are all played by singers that seem fully engrossed in their roles; this makes the audience's job to watch and believe very easy. South African singer Amanda Echalaz makes a pretty Floria Tosca, her voice is unfaltering, but it is her acting which particularly impressed me. She is entirely convincing throughout and has genuine chemistry with her leading man. Tosca's suicide which concludes the opera is spectacular with Amanda falling backwards off the rear of the stage with shocking grace.

Julian Gavin who plays Mario Cavaradossi has a wonderfully creamy tenor voice, a pure delight to listen to. It is a difficult role to sing, but he easily hits the notes and manages to fill the entire theatre. The baddie, Baron Scarpia must be a fun part to play, in this production Antony Michaels-Moore takes it on with gleeful terror. Such a nasty character that the audience even booed when he came on to bow.

The set had a Neo-Classical feel that worked well with the production as a whole. Cavaradossi's painting in the first act is an important feature, and it is a shame that it is shown as a strange mosaic type picture, but apart from that the set is appropriate.

Conductor, Edward Gardner does a sterling job with the orchestra, although the music needs little help to sound beautiful. Puccini himself commented, 'Only with emotion can one achieve a triumph that endures' and this is entirely true of Tosca, which I believe has some of the most passionate, overpoweringly emotional music of all time.

Any well known opera is open to great criticism, but I have seen four productions of Tosca in my lifetime, and this is hands down the best. It is on until the 10th July, I promise you won't be disappointed, this is a show not to miss.

Book tickets HERE.