La Bohème – Puccini (opera)
The Royal Opera at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden
September 19, 2010 (Saturday)

Puccini’s best-loved work, with its unforgettable period designs by Julia Trevelyan Oman, returns to The Royal Opera House stage with an outstanding cast. La bohème is one of the most famously melodious and eternally popular of all operas. The carefree attitude of youth and the harsh realities of life are poignantly contrasted through the tender affair of Mimì (Greek soprano Alexia Voulgaridou) and Rodolfo (South Korean tenor Wookyung Kim), from the heights of first meeting through to the tragic end.

The production is one of The Royal Opera Company’s most loved, bringing to life Paris of 1830 in detailed sets and costumes as we travel with the characters between bare attic, crowded café and a wintery street right on the city’s edge. The international cast is under the expert baton of Christian Badea, a conductor especially noted for his interpretations of Puccini. With that composer’s mastery of orchestral colour matched to the superb playing of the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, La bohème is an evening of great sound, engrossing imagery and stirring romantic drama.