Heartwarming, heartbreaking and everything in between, La Bohème follows the impoverished protagonist Rodolfo’s love, fidelity and trust through a well-composed, vocally impressive spectacle.
Rodolfo (Mario Chang), meets the stunning Mimì (Hye-Youn Lee) and falls in love. In tandem, Rodolfo’s playwriting companion Marcello finds love in Musetta. These two relationships spiral, and the performers ably represent their characters’ decline with rigour and style.
Scenes are illuminated by a warmth, which quickly transforms to a bleak blue as the tightly knit web between characters slowly dissolves. Such changes mimic the burning of the scripts at the opening. The high-octane initial scenes create a similar warmth — greatly juxtaposing the final ones.
The chorus instil the settings with a gorgeous spirit of cheer — there are also some incredible performances by the young cast of children. As they move between tableaus, Hye Youn-Lee’s work is sometimes painted over in broad brush-strokes by the chorus in this highly complex work of art.
The setting is surely Puccini’s vision of excellence. With its intricately displayed posters and carefully carved domestic items, the stage is bustling with activity – sometimes too much, which detracts from the direction in places.
More exciting is the manipulation of the set, as it descends into an empty hollowness over the course of the performance. The spacious design does mean that areas must be oddly sectioned off, with furniture angled to create a coziness within the magnitude of the setting. At times, this leaves the stage feeling poorly optimised, particularly in the final scenes.
The sublime talent of the actors nonetheless shines through. Roland Wood brings the perfect, proud Marcello to life with his booming vocals, opposing the wonder of Hye Youn-Lee’s piercing vocal feast which makes the production a blissful emotional thriller.
Mimì’s transformation from love-struck and obsessed to lost and sick is beautifully conveyed. It is this which makes for a striking, stunning final scene as she declines in health. The actors hold their calm, bringing an exemplary silence.
These stellar moments towards the end of the production are the performance’s highlight. Direction is beautifully still, and the actors well-composed. A wonderful sincerity is washed with the cheeky humour exhibited perfectly by actors in this dynamic, invigorating operatic treat.
Image by Mihaela Bodlovic, courtesy of Scottish Opera.