Opera Scotland

Bohème 1989Scottish Opera

Read more about the opera Bohème

Barely six months since its opening, Moshinsky's Bohème came back for a second run. But the conditions weren't ideal. Nuccia Focile, who would have been just right for Mimì, withdrew, and her replacement was recommended by Peter Hemmings from his base in Los Angeles, where she had sung Desdemona opposite Domingo with great success. But she lacked the delicacy of phrase that Puccini in general, and Mimì in particular, must have. And the conducting of John Pryce-Jones was loud and lacking in subtlety.

Strong points? Well, the new Marcello, a then unheard-of Simon Keenlyside, clearly knew his way about the stage, and even this early in his career showed up as a brilliant actor, even if his voice was still on the dry side. His acting had an excellent foil in the Musetta, Alison Hagley. The New Zealand tenor Patrick Power was the good new Rodolfo, and the other two students were excellent as they had been before. At one performance, Tom McVeigh, from the chorus, gave an excellent account of himself when required to go on as Schaunard.

 

Scottish Opera's Season - 1988/89

The programme for the 1988-89 season of Scottish Opera opened with Midsummer Marriage. The other new productions were Fledermaus, Rheingold, Don Giovanni, Oedipus Rex, Traviata and Street Scene. The revivals were Magic Flute, Iolanthe, and Bohème, In the autumn the previous season's Richard Jones Così fan tutte, redirected by Tim Hopkins, went out on the medium-scale tour. There was also a small-scale, piano-accompanied tour of Don Carlos, so far Scottish Opera's only attempt at this work.