Opera Scotland

Bohème 1952Covent Garden Opera

Read more about the opera Bohème

This two week visit to Glasgow by the Covent Garden company gave Scottish audiences their first opportunity to see two new works - not just the Festival of Britain commission, Billy Budd, but also a fascinating late work by Vaughan Williams, The Pilgrim's Progress.

The schedule for the fortnight was:

Week commencing 17 March: Mon Turandot, Tue Pilgrim's Progress, Wed Salome, Thu Magic Flute, Fri Aïda, Sat mat Bohème, Sat eve Tosca.

Week commencing 24 March: Mon Aïda, Tue Salome, Wed Magic Flute, Thu Bohème, Fri Billy Budd, Sat mat Tosca, Sat eve Turandot.

The Royal Opera House has only ever used two productions of La Bohème. These sets went back to the days of Melba and Caruso. They continued in use until replaced in 1974 with a memorable staging by John Copley, designed by Julia Trevelyan Oman. This was revived frequently, featuring the world's greatest singers, until its final run in 2015. How will they follow that?

The cast includes Australian tenor John Lanigan as Rodolfo, with Christel Goltz supplementing her Salome with another role that demands plenty of character.

Cast details are from our copy of the programme for 22 March.