La Bohème, opera review: Why this heroine should stay off the heroin

Director Benedict Andrews modern update suggests that the next step after Rodolfo’s “Your tiny hand is frozen” is for him to inject Mimi’s arm with heroin – but the concept has little traction, says Barry Millington
Spaced-out lovers: Zach Borichevsky as Rodolfo and Corinne Winters as Mimi
Tristram Kenton
Barry Millington26 October 2015

The consumptive seamstresses and starving artists of Puccini’s La Bohème can too easily seem the stuff of Romantic opera. Yet disease and hunger among the underprivileged are still with us. Much as one applauds the intention to find a resonant contemporary parallel, it’s difficult to empathise with that proposed by the Australian director Benedict Andrews. Throwing caution to the winds, Andrews suggests that the next step after Rodolfo’s “Your tiny hand is frozen” is for him to inject Mimi’s arm with heroin.

The justification offered by the ENO management on Andrews’ behalf was that the status of heroin addict provides a suitably modern counterpart to consumption, which in the 19th century had associations of sexual immorality, making the victim a social outsider.

There are a number of problems with this. First, it’s well-nigh impossible for a contemporary audience, however open-minded, to thrill to the tender, burgeoning passion of Rodolfo and Mimi, knowing it’s been artificially injected. Where consumption’s pallor traditionally made female sufferers more sexually attractive, heroin induces a less becoming pallor, which Jon Clark’s merciless lighting doesn’t even attempt to eroticise.

The concept has little traction and Andrews loses confidence in it long before Mimi’s death from unspecified causes. The garret, in which these young artists conventionally cavort, has also gone out of the window. Or, more accurately, huge windows in the final act reveal that we’re on the ground floor overlooking a children’s playground. Fair enough, and no doubt the carnivalesque Café Momus, with children’s masks and helium balloons, is seen through the eyes of the spaced-out lovers. But why, then, are the sets (by Johannes Schütz) so grey and functional?

Latest music reviews

1/168

The US tenor Zach Borichevsky undoubtedly has potential as a Rodolfo, but his zealous delivery sounded tight and unsupported and the calamitous attempt at the high C at the climax of the Act 1 scene with Mimi all too predictable. Corinne Winters has impressed at ENO before and offered a more vocally accomplished but insufficiently moving Mimi. Duncan Rock as Marcello and Ashley Riches as Schaunard gave strong performances.

Simon Butteriss deployed his comic talents to the full in the double role of Benoît and Alcindoro, aided by Amanda Holden’s punchy, eminently singable translation. Rhian Lois was a sparkly, if lightweight Musetta.

Xian Zhang’s conducting had an uncompromising, driven quality, an appropriate complement, perhaps, to an unsentimental, indeed alienating, production. There were, however, glimpses of warmth and exhilaration, and the plangent brass chords at the close of Mimi’s death scene struck a chill into the heart.

Until November 17, Coliseum (020 7845 9300)

Follow Going Out on Facebook and on Twitter @ESgoingout

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in