Ermonela Jaho and Charles Castronovo in La Bohème at the Royal Opera House
Photograph: Catherine Ashmore
What can you say about a perfect opera such as this? My second visit to the Royal Opera House has secured my belief that La Boheme is other worldly. The arias are rapid and delightful, the plot romantic yet tragic; the characters funny yet three dimensional and human. Mozart does not even touch Puccini's heights when opera is concerned. This set some feat for the cast to reach.
And my high expectations were exceeded by the sheer quality of the Opera House's production. Whilst the production is now in it's sixtieth year (the show I saw was it's 609th performance), it is still fresh and interesting. The relationship between Rodolpho and Mimi is spine- tingling, with Jaho and Castronovo putting in a belter of a performance. The set showed why this staging is a firm favourite. Every single member of the cast was convincing and, by the end of the show, I was in floods of tears. Utterly remarkable!
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