Conductor Lorenzo Passerini Will Make Royal Opera Debut In Puccini’s LA BOHEME
Freddie De Tommaso and Juliana Grigoryan lead two casts in Richard Jones's staging at Covent Garden.
Lorenzo Passerini, Chief Conductor of Jyväskylä Sinfonia in Finland and Founder and Artistic Director of the Orchestra Antonio Vivaldi, will make his Royal Opera debut this July. He joins Christopher Willis to lead two stellar casts through Richard Jones' staging of Puccini's La bohème. Performances begin on Wednesday 1 July and run until Saturday 25 July 2026.
In this tender depiction of 1830s bohemian Paris, Juliana Grigoryan and Hrachuhí Bassénz share the role of Mimì, a seamstress who falls for the penniless poet Rodolfo, performed by Freddie De Tommaso and Stefan Pop. Across the run, their circle of artistic friends is brought to life by a host of international talent, including Luca Micheletti, Germán E. Alcántara, Pierre Doyen and Gianluca Buratto. Marina Monzó and Ruth Iniesta make their Royal Opera debuts as Musetta, while Modestas Sedlevičius and Giorgi Manoshvili debut as Schaunard and Colline respectively.
La bohème premiered at Turin's Teatro Regio in 1896 (and debuted in Covent Garden the following year) making 2026 its 130-year anniversary. It remains one of the world's best-loved operas and is the most performed in the Royal Opera House's history, enchanting audiences with its touching storyline, soaring score, intimate arias and captivating chorus scenes.
Richard Jones' staging is an especially visual delight, executed with sharp intelligence and virtuosic humour. Through Stewart Laing's designs, lighting by Mimi Jordan Sherin and movement direction by Sarah Fahie, the production brilliantly captures the modernism of Paris on the cusp of monumental change and the lives of the city's Bohemian dreamers.
Recorded Audio Description is available at all performances of La bohème. An Audio Described, BSL Interpreted performance and Touch Tour will run on 5 July and an Audio Described and Captioned performance will follow on 11 July.
