The final scene where her life ebbed away was deeply moving without being saccharine. Her voice soared in the Act II café scene while she injected emotional anguish into Act III. Her rendition of ‘Si, mi chiamano Mimì’ was ravishing and she showed extraordinary control as she caressed Puccini’s long phrases while remaining attentive to the words. Yoncheva brought a nuanced fragility and reserve to Mimì which seemed to enhance her allure. I am pleased to say that they were equally good here in the roles of Rodolfo and Mimì. Michael Fabiano and Sonya Yoncheva both excelled in the roles of Alfredo and Violetta in last year’s production of La traviata at the Met (review click here). This production gave us a rich, multi-faceted portrayal moving seamlessly from jostling and horseplay to tenderness and heartbreak, all the while allowing us to fall in love with the characters all over again. Any performance stands or falls by the way it portrays Puccini’s immortal cast of characters in all their flawed humanity.

Rodolfo is both jealous and tender towards Mimì, Marcello is hot headed but with a heart of gold while Musetta is a manipulative grifter who nevertheless sells her earrings to buy medicine for Mimì. One of the things which so entrances audiences about this opera is the breadth of humanity we witness from all the characters.

The visually sumptuous snowscape in Act III provided the perfect backdrop to Puccini’s anguished and heartfelt music while the garret rooms overlooking Parisian rooftops looked like pictures from a story book. The audience broke into a spontaneous round of applause when the curtain came back to reveal the stunning set. The vast two-storey set depicting the Café Momus in Act II, with its enormous cast of extras, colourful costumes and marching band, still has the power to take the breath away. This was a revival of Zeffirelli’s epic 1981 production of La bohème which has had more performances than any other production in the history of the Met. (RB) Sonya Yoncheva (Mimì) & Michael Fabiano (Rodolfo) (c) Ken Howard Broadcast live to the Dundonald Omniplex Cinema, Belfast, from the Metropolitan Opera, New York. United States Puccini, La bohème: Soloists, Chorus and Orchestra of the Metropolitan Opera, New York / Marco Armiliato (Conductor).

La boheme met opera schedule