The Coliseum, London
November 5, 2015

La Bohème is one of those operas you end up seeing frequently in a lifetime. Not only is it full of great music but also because it is so often found in the repertoire. English National Opera received critical praise and good audiences for its previous production directed by Jonathan Miller, which had many successful revivals. Will iconoclastic Australian director Benedict Andrews’ new incarnation (a joint production with Netherlands Opera) be as successful for the company?

A friend joined me for this performance of Bohème and by one of those quirks of fate in life she had never seen the opera. I asked for her impressions during the interval. She told me that in Act One she had expected to have been more moved by the music, especially the love duet between Mimi and Rodolfo. When pushed to analyse this further she came up with a very insightful comment that what was happening on stage seemed to bear little relationship to the emotions in the music. How right she was.

Andrews has Mimi lurking at a Perspex door from the start of the act and when she finally plucks up the courage to come in we...