La Bohème, WNO, Cardiff – Seven magazine review

Though the adventurous hand of Welsh National Opera’s new boss, David Pountney, won’t be felt until its spring productions, the company’s comparatively tame autumn season has at least got off to a fresh start with Annabel Arden’s staging of La Bohème.

Almost as traditional as the long-running and well-loved Göran Järvefelt version it replaces, it nevertheless boasts a few individual directorial twists and brings Puccini’s heartbreaking characters to life yet again.

In Tim Mitchell’s evocative lighting, Stephen Brimson Lewis’s designs place things firmly on the rooftops and riverside of late 19th-century Paris. But Act I’s garret looks impoverished even by Bohemian standards (much is left to the imagination, its walls for a start); and in this chilly space, things take time to warm up musically too.

Apart from David Kempster’s robust Marcello, who anchors the entire performance, the male quartet lacks individuality and vocal allure. Alex Vicens’s dry-toned Rodolfo has the money notes, but little else.

By contrast, Giselle Allen’s touching Mimì displays all the right qualities, her warm soprano contrasting effectively with that of Kate Valentine’s feisty Musetta.

Simon Phillippo conducts a muscular, tautly paced account of Puccini’s score, drawing strong performances from WNO’s chorus and orchestra.

Tours to Dec 1; www.wno.org.uk

This article also appeared in SEVEN magazine, free with the Sunday Telegraph.

Follow SEVEN on Twitter @TelegraphSeven