Set in space, Claus Guth’s new production of La Bohème for Paris Opera is infinitely worth catching in cinemas, and not only to see whether it deserves the critical drubbing it received during its run in December of last year. The idea that Puccini’s operas resist directorial intervention is one to be sceptical of, and Guth provides a fine example of how to tackle a work by a composer who took extreme care of the staging in his score. This is not to say that Guth’s take on Bohème is without its problems – fussiness sets in during the second and third acts, and the frequent close ups of this cinema transmission dispel the illusion of the body doubles, central to the drama. But when the concept gels – and it really does in that first act – the effect is frequently moving, helped by Etienne Pluss’s majestic sets.

La BohèmeNicole Car in Paris Opera’s La Bohéme. Photo: supplied.

The joyous, rollicking opening chords of Bohème are here replaced by claustrophobic electronic throbs, with the curtain coming up on the interior of a gleaming white spaceship. The conceit – told to the audience through...