Image: Opera North
La Bohème
Opera North
29th April – 17th May
Leeds Grand Theatre
Puccini’s La Bohème is perhaps one of the best known opera: an heartbreaking tale of young love and loss set in squalid rooms and bohemian cafes of Paris. The story follows a group of bohemians (a poet, a painter, a philosopher and a musician) as they struggle in the freezing poverty of their rooms on Christmas Eve, continually cheating their landlord Monsieur Benoît out of his long overdue rent. Life is mostly spent in the vibrant Latin Quarter amongst students and girls, drinking and singing in the red-lit terrace of Café Momus. Two couples stand at the centre of the story. First and foremost the tender and deep love between the poet Rodolfo and the seamstress Mimì, whose ill-health haunts the rest of the story. Counterbalancing it is the free and wild relationship between painter Marcelo and the singer Musetta, who delights in teasing her lover by flaunting her rich admirer Alcindoro. As winter gives into spring and then summer, loves alone proves not enough to stop the tragic ending.
La Bohème is all about the story and success hinges on a credible chemistry on stage between singers. This revived production by Opera North, making use of a double cast of younger generation of opera singers was extremely successful. Ji-Min Park and Anita Watson were perfectly cast together as Rodolfo and Mimì, whose performance at the end of Act IV was heartbreaking. The theatre stood in awe as a pale and weak Mimì sings in her final aria of her and Rodolfo’s love: ‘as great as the sea, as the deep and infinite sea’. But let’s not forget Marcello and Musetta, sang by rising opera stars Duncan Rock and Sky Ingram, powerfully portrayed the continually on-and-off relationship of their characters, always intensely passionate. With the exception of Ingram, it was their Opera North debut, and none failed in their singing. It really is impressive to watch voices without microphones rising above a 50-odd piece orchestra and filling a theatre hall. In the pit, ably conducting the orchestra was 21 year old Ilych Rivas, another new face in Leeds.
Directed by Phillida Lloyd (of Mamma Mia! fame, amongst others), this production updated Puccini’s story from the 1830s to 1950s Paris. Not that the location was particularly emphasized and in this production there is a good dose of 50s Americana: from Marcello’s leather jackets and shinny motorbike to the dinner-style seats Cafe Momus – though with its red lights, bohemian clientele and uniformed waiters, the Parisian atmosphere is never completely obscured. But it is twentieth century references that dominate this production’s aesthetics: the Man Ray-esque gigantic set of red lips decorating the walls of cafe Momus, Pop-Art portrayts of Musetta hanging in Marcelo’s studio, even a nod to DADA amongst the chaos of objects in the bohemians’ room. At the start of Act IV one of the bohemians even comes as dressed up as Marlyn Monroe, much to the audience’s delight. The stage itself was construed within a white frame creating the impression of a vintage photograph, which at times worked very well.
It was a production that made full use of the company’s resources, packing the stage with both the adult and children Choruses of Opera North – and leading the children, happily jumping about, was toy seller Parpignol (Paul Rendall), which with his point nose, top hat and outlandish tail’s coat, was like a surreal child-friendly version of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang’s Child Catcher. But it was all this that made this production such a success. It showed opera to be the all inclusive art form that it is, a spectacle of colour, music and acting, able to make the audience laugh and cry. La Bohème has it all. You’ll certainly laugh and be prepared to cry. And with £10 student tickets, there is reason not to go for a bohemian evening out.
Rodolfo Barradas