Mirabelle Ordinaire’s revival of Franco Zeffirelli’s rich and sumptuous 1981 production is epic on every level, as it visualises the musical textures of Puccini’s timeless masterpiece that tells of love, friendship, and death in 1830’s Paris.
It is Christmas Eve when we meet four struggling bohemians living in a garret: a poet, Rodolfo (Freddie De Tommaso); a painter, Marcello (Lucas Meachem); a philosopher, Colline (Jongmin Park); and a musician, Schaunard (Sean Michael Plumb) who arrives having had some good fortune and they agree to celebrate by dining at Café Momus. They are interrupted by their landlord, Benoît (Donald Maxwell) but cleverly trick him into revealing he has been playing around which allows them to throw him out in comic moral indignation without paying their rent.
Whilst the others leave, Rodolfo remains but is interrupted by a knock at the door: a young girl needs to light her candle but then becomes faint and drops her key. As they search, Rodolfo discovers her name is Mimi (Juliana Grigoryan). As his impatient friends call for him, Mimi is framed in moonlight, and they declare their love for each other.
As the party dine in the hustle and bustle of the Latin Quarter, a former lover of Marcello, Musetta (Heidi Stober) appears with a rich and elderly admirer, Alcindoro (Maxwell), in tow, and, to his embarrassment, she sings a risqué song to garner Marcello’s attention.
The opera resumes some months on with a clearly unwell Mimi searching for Marcello who is working in a nearby tavern. She tells him of Rodolfo’s jealousy although we discover this is a sham: he is too poor to care for her and hopes she will find love with a wealthier suitor. They are reunited in their love whilst, in contrast, Marcello quarrels with Musetta over her flirtatious behaviour.
Some weeks later we return to the garret where Marcello and Rodolfo are caught up in nostalgia for their girlfriends who have found new, wealthy lovers. Suddenly Musetta appears with Mimi in tow: reconciliations seem in order but will it all end too soon?
Zeffirelli’s set design provides a wonderful backdrop of Paris, with overflowing scenes of cafés and street entertainers that is made up of a double adult and child chorus, under the direction of Tilman Michael, which sees over one hundred on people at stage at times. But it is Zeffirelli’s attention to detail that really grabs the eye as in the confines of a tight garret space, he focuses on the emotional significance hidden in the trivial things – a bonnet; an old overcoat; a chance meeting with a neighbour – that make up our everyday lives, and which truly enrich this verismo opera.
Conductor Keri-Lynn Wilson’s natural flair allows the orchestra to embrace the emotional dynamic range of the music as it reflects the extremes of joy, laughter, and joie de vivre on the one hand whilst fending off anger, jealousy, and heartbreak on the other, with the simple melodies and lush orchestration mirroring the on-stage optimistic exploration of romance and love.
The cast performed strongly with some great acting complementing their fine vocal performances with some cleverly choreographed and comic camaraderie between our four artisans. Plumb’s bright energy perfectly offset Park’s more sober philosophical tones. Experience was very much to the fore with Meachem outstanding as he balanced the humour and darker edge of Marcello with a superb vocal, whilst Stober as his muse served up sassiness, sexiness, and sweetness in an impressive performance.
But the night belonged to the next generation. De Tommaso is a phenomenal voice and talent whose ardent performance squeezed every conflicting emotion out of his love and jealousy for Grigoryan’s Mimi; in turn, she shone with a heartfelt performance that embraced the emotion at the centre of this tragic love story that brought a tear to the eye – including her own: what’s really exciting about the impressive young leads of this production is that they are only going to get better and better.
Reviewer: Mark Davoren
Reviewed: 8th November 2025
North West End UK Rating: