ROH La Boheme

[Ein Heldenleben]

For those thinking of going I would recommend the performances with Yaritza Véliz singing Mimi. I went to the dress rehearsal last night and she was sensational. I gather she was also likewise wonderful in the same role at Glyndebourne in 2022. She has an incredibly beautiful rounded tone even on the highest notes and huge power.

[Barbirollians]

Shame the production is so dull - except in Act 3 where Jones largely mirrored Copley.

[Ein Heldenleben]

Shame the production is so dull - except in Act 3 where Jones largely mirrored Copley.

Yes dull and in the matter of Musetta and her partial striptease - ridiculous. But the people next to me thought the staging absolutely wonderful!

[makropulos]

Yes dull and in the matter of Musetta and her partial striptease - ridiculous. But the people next to me thought the staging absolutely wonderful!

A hard act to follow Copley, but Jones's production is – as you say – dull and daft in equal measure. I'm afraid that's why I'd not planned to go to this revival, but it sounds as if the cast might make it worth the trip.

[Retune]

Went on the 24th and enjoyed it a great deal. Bought tickets expecting to see Danielle de Niese, but Lauren Fagan's Musetta was outstanding. Ruzan Mantashyan beautiful and affecting in the last act - would very much like to hear more of her. I especially liked the staging in Act 2 and thought it fine throughout, except when the roof beams of the garret got in the way of the sightlines from the cheap seats!

[Cockney Sparrow]

For those thinking of going I would recommend the performances with Yaritza Véliz singing Mimi. I went to the dress rehearsal last night and she was sensational. I gather she was also likewise wonderful in the same role at Glyndebourne in 2022. She has an incredibly beautiful rounded tone even on the highest notes and huge power.

Thanks for the recommendation. I wasn't planning to go, but got a low cost ticket to see and hear her and it was very rewarding. I hope that her career builds and prospers - not always something I've seen of such promising emerging artists.

A good cast* vocally and a strong young bass, William Thomas, I expect to hear more from. The Rodolfo (Leonardo Caimi) didn't exactly have a pleasing tone, but I always think I'm ahead of the game when I have no anxiety about the reliability of a singer's voice and few performances are without a drawback or two. Either his voice settled in by the last act, or I became accustomed to it (or a mixture of both). *Cast sheet:
https://www.roh.org.uk/about/cast-sh...ilsource=59531

In the first run, the Jones production became intolerable for me when, upon her arrival and collapse, they rested Mimi's head on a pile of books (or a box) in the final scene (where she dies, to state the obvious). I was pleased to see they've changed that for a rough pillow, which surely they could rustle up, even in their poverty stricken attic room.

[Ein Heldenleben]

Thanks for the recommendation. I wasn't planning to go, but got a low cost ticket to see and hear her and it was very rewarding. I hope that her career builds and prospers - not always something I've seen of such promising emerging artists.

A good cast* vocally and a strong young bass, William Thomas, I expect to hear more from. The Rodolfo (Leonardo Caimi) didn't exactly have a pleasing tone, but I always think I'm ahead of the game when I have no anxiety about the reliability of a singer's voice and few performances are without a drawback or two. Either his voice settled in by the last act, or I became accustomed to it (or a mixture of both). *Cast sheet:
https://www.roh.org.uk/about/cast-sheets?utm_source=wordfly&utm_medium=email&amp ;utm_campaign=2018-19ReminderEmail-MainStage&utm_content=version_A&emailsourc e=59531

In the first run, the Jones production became intolerable for me when, upon her arrival and collapse, they rested Mimi's head on a pile of books (or a box) in the final scene (where she dies, to state the obvious). I was pleased to see they've changed that for a rough pillow, which surely they could rustle up, even in their poverty stricken attic room.

Glad you enjoyed it. From the reviews it sounds like both Mimi’s were outstanding. I also went to the Tosca rehearsal last Friday and Ausrine Stundyte (the recent Elektra) was superb in the title role -she’s a very good dramatic presence though perhaps slightly underpowered always a beautiful sound . She acted so well I decided to drift down to the stalls for the final act. There’s also a very good Scarpia. Once again the orchestra were on top form. The Tosca is a much better production than the Boheme.

[Barbirollians]

Thanks for the recommendation. I wasn't planning to go, but got a low cost ticket to see and hear her and it was very rewarding. I hope that her career builds and prospers - not always something I've seen of such promising emerging artists.

A good cast* vocally and a strong young bass, William Thomas, I expect to hear more from. The Rodolfo (Leonardo Caimi) didn't exactly have a pleasing tone, but I always think I'm ahead of the game when I have no anxiety about the reliability of a singer's voice and few performances are without a drawback or two. Either his voice settled in by the last act, or I became accustomed to it (or a mixture of both). *Cast sheet:
https://www.roh.org.uk/about/cast-sh...ilsource=59531

In the first run, the Jones production became intolerable for me when, upon her arrival and collapse, they rested Mimi's head on a pile of books (or a box) in the final scene (where she dies, to state the obvious). I was pleased to see they've changed that for a rough pillow, which surely they could rustle up, even in their poverty stricken attic room.

Also that absurd scene when one of the flat mates puts his hand in the hot stovepipe and as for Act 2 in a modern shopping centre ..,

[Simon B]

Also that absurd scene when one of the flat mates puts his hand in the hot stovepipe and as for Act 2 in a modern shopping centre ..,

Whatever the deficiencies of the Jones Boheme, on the probably half a dozen occasions I've seen it live I've never processed this scene as evoking a modern shopping centre:



It's not a great deal like Merthyr Tydfil's Cyfartha Shopping Park, that's for sure .

I don't entirely get the hate for this production, even if it does appear that 98% of the budget went on Act 2. Don't go and see his Samson et Dalila if this one grinds your gears!

[Ein Heldenleben]

Whatever the deficiencies of the Jones Boheme, on the probably half a dozen occasions I've seen it live I've never processed this scene as evoking a modern shopping centre:



It's not a great deal like Merthyr Tydfil's Cyfartha Shopping Park, that's for sure .

I don't entirely get the hate for this production, even if it does appear that 98% of the budget went on Act 2. Don't go and see his Samson et Dalila if this one grinds your gears!

I’ve always assumed this was a knowing reference to the Walter Benjamin Arcades Project - an uncompleted socio cultural analysis of late 19th Parisian retail capitalism and in particular the Arcades thrown up in the city centre. I’ve never met any one who’s read it and only one person who’s even heard of it. Throw in a reference to it in cultural circles and amaze your friends. Just to add to the fun there’s huge controversy over the ordering and selection of the fragmented text.

[Barbirollians]

It just looks fake to me. I don't hate this production I just think it pales terribly compared to its predecessor.

[Ein Heldenleben]

It just looks fake to me. I don't hate this production I just think it pales terribly compared to its predecessor.

Yes it’s stylised and artificial which has the advantage of being perhaps cheaper than realistic and also making a heavy handed production point no doubt playing into the (in my case unread ) sub-Benjaminesque ethos. I’ve never bought a programme for this production - that no doubt explains the “concept”

[Simon Biazeck]

Yes, it’s stylised and artificial which has the advantage of being perhaps cheaper than realistic and also making a heavy-handed production point no doubt playing into the (in my case unread ) sub-Benjaminesque ethos. I’ve never bought a programme for this production - that no doubt explains the “concept”

Richard Jones doesn't do concepts - he said so in an interview. He hates it when he is asked to explain his productions in that way. I love watching them and being in them. He has a great deal to say to his performers about characterisation.

[Ein Heldenleben]

Richard Jones doesn't do concepts - he said so in an interview. He hates it when he is asked to explain his productions in that way. I love watching them and being in them. He has a great deal to say to his performers about characterisation.

I’d love to hear his explanation of Musetta taking her knickers off while standing on a table in an expensive and crowded Paris Café and throwing it into the lap of a former lover. What woman would ever do that ? Just ludicrous.

[Master Jacques]

Richard Jones doesn't do concepts - he said so in an interview. He hates it when he is asked to explain his productions in that way. I love watching them and being in them. He has a great deal to say to his performers about characterisation.

I can't offhand recall one of his productions which didn't 'do concepts', at least in the design (for which he has to take responsibility). His problem is sometimes not having the rigour to see his concepts through, and diluting them. Having recently sat through his decidedly conceptual take on L'enfant et les sortileges at the Paris Opéra, where the garden scene was turned into a half-baked forum of 1914-18 trench warfare (with the frogs as doomed sappers) I am happy to call his airy bluff on this one. He often workshops his shows beforehand with actors, which is how he picks up those tricks on characterisation.