★★½☆☆ Benedict Andrews’ Bohème is a misunderstanding of young people in love.

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 are led to believe that drugs and alcohol are her prime motivation. Miraculously her heroin fix leaves her able to sing about her quiet and prayerful life while Rudolfo lies on the floor enjoying his high. Their Act One duet sees them rolling around in drug induced excitement with little sincerity regarding their love. I wondered if Mr Andrews has been longing to direct the rock musical Rent and has taken the offer of a Bohème production to work through his directorial ideas.

Act Two outside the Café Momus also left my friend cold. She spoke of too many swinging white cubes, no Christmas spirit (was it not supposed to be Christmas Eve?) and the visual impact of a rally in North Korea as opposed to festive Paris. Whereas in Acts One, Three and Four we can live with the white cubes and Perspex glass, the stage design hits an all-time low in this act and needs a radical rethink.

An audience can forgive a talented director one or two misguided moments, but Andrews presents too many in this production and at critical points in the story. He is not helped by his designer Johannes Shultz whose designs create a sterile atmosphere. His Paris owes more to La Défense than Montmartre. It is interesting to note that in a publicity video Andrews talks of Bohème still being popular because of the great joy of living it portrays. It seems he never had this conversation with Shultz.

The production problems in Acts One and Two behind us, the rest of the opera almost pulls itself together with some electrifying moments. However, without a strong foundation it never reaches the gut wrenching poignancy we expect from this Puccini classic. The potential is there, such as in the quartet in Act Three and the closing stages of Mimi’s death in Act Four, but that just makes the evening more frustrating. Andrews speaks of past productions that can feel like nostalgic museum pieces and he is right, but this is not the way to bring Bohème alive.

The singing in general was excellent with a stand out performance from US soprano Corinne Winters whom I last saw in an ENO production of La Traviata. She is an extraordinary singer whose small frame belies a powerful well controlled voice, rich in tone.  Her Rudolfo, fellow American Zach Borichevsky, has a pleasing if light tenor. He is young tall and handsome and a competent actor. The Coliseum is a little large for his current voice but hopefully it will mature and gain in projection.

Two graduates of the ENO Harewood artists scheme, Duncan Rock as Marcello and Rhian Lois as Musetta achieve notable performances. Both are fine actors and possess voices bursting with potential. Nicholas Masters (Colline) has to cope with a difficultly staged rendition of his short Act Four aria, but he pulls it off with aplomb. His rich bass tones are highly musical and expressive.

American conductor Xian Zhang is excellent. Her orchestral sounds are bright with appropriate speeds, never allowing Puccini’s rich tones to become mushy. I enjoyed the clarity of her style very much. She could be a little more sympathetic to some of the younger singers as there are times when she loses the balance between stage and pit. This skill grows with familiarity in a particular opera house and I look forward to her return.

So to answer my original question; will this new incarnation of Bohème be successful for the company? Sadly I think not. It may be that it has a little more resonance in the Netherlands, but in London it will need a lot of clever marketing and the engagement of equally exciting young singers if it is to attract return audiences.

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