Opera Scotland

Bohème 2020Scottish Opera

Read more about the opera Bohème

Scottish Opera here celebrated a longed-for return to live, staged opera with a genuine crowd pleaser moved to very unfamiliar surroundings.

This elegant abridged version – created by composer Jonathan Dove (Flight 2018) – of Puccini’s heartbreaking love story gets a powerful new outdoor production from Scottish Opera Staff Director Roxana Haines, designed by Glasgow-based Anna Orton. The staging placed a small audience right in the middle of the action, which took place among and around them – with appropriate physical distancing observed at all times.

The cast for this La bohème for today included Elizabeth Llewellyn as Mimì and Rhian Lois as Musetta (both making their Scottish Opera debuts), Samuel Sakker (Kátya Kabanová 2019) as Rodolfo and Roland Wood (Tosca 2019, Pelléas et Mélisande 2017) as Marcello, with Scottish Opera Emerging Artist 2019/20 Arthur Bruce as Schaunard. Company Music Director Stuart Stratford conducts a specially selected ensemble from The Orchestra of Scottish Opera.

Safety for all audience members, performers and backstage crew has been built into the production’s underlying conception from the start, and safety measures will be observed at all times with no compromise. 

With its grand theatrical and emotional sweep, this very special production of Puccini’s heartbreaking operatic weepie is a celebration of love in all its forms: from passion to affection, friendship to fraternity. And it’s a poignant love letter to theatre, opera and live performance itself – to singers, instrumentalists, backstage and, of course, audiences.