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La Bohème
12th, 13th and 15th November
The Lowry Salford
*** C’est magnifique ***
*** All the drama, laughs and tears you would expect from Puccini ***
*** La Bohème is a great opera for the first timer and for opera aficionados ***
Four stars ****
Puccini’s great opera La Bohème has arrived at The Lowry from now to 15th November. Opera North brings us their sumptuous interpretation of the Parisian based story. La Bohème is one of Puccini’s most renowned operas alongside Tosca and Madam Butterfly. Opera North always delivers in my view, with its lavish sets, live orchestra and wonderful actors and tonight was no exception. They bring us a modern love story of a young poet who falls in love with a poor seamstress. It’s freezing outside, and they have little but their love to keep themselves warm on the cold Christmas eve. They bring all the drama, laughs and tears you would expect from Puccini.
The show starts at 2pm and 7pm sharp. They will not admit late comers to their assigned seat but will have to sit up in the gods for the first half. My own fault thinking the show started at 7:30 we arrived just after 7pm and found ourselves in the upper circle. This view point however gave a clear view of the orchestra and the wonderful conducting skills of Garry Walker. We also got to appreciate how powerful and still poetic the cast voices are, as they were as clear and crisp as being in the front row of the stalls.
Anthony Ciaramitaro plays are lonely poet Rodolfor. Anthony exercises wonderful control of his tenor voice giving us the purest diction and emotion. He falls in love with Mimi played by the soprano Isabella Diaz. Her beautiful rich vocals bring alive the love and deep despair she faces. The casting is spot on with Josef Jeongmeen Ahn, Sean Boylan, Kamil Bien, Han Kim completing Rodolfo bohemian friends. A special shout out goes to the soprano Katie Bird who plays the sultry Musetta. She is endearing and yet brings comedy, passion and love to the role with her powerful crystal voice. The sets are simple; you know immediately that you are in or outside a bar or an artist's studio/home. The whole production is c’est magnifique!
La Bohème is a great opera for the first timer and for opera aficionados. The Opera is sung in Italian with English subtitles, with Acts I and II having a 55-minutes run time before the 20-minute interval then the final 60-minutes are for Acts III & IV. This is the perfect autumnal night out to get you in the mood for the up-and-coming festivities.
Booking now via below:
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