Review: LA BOHÈME, The Grange Festival

Puccini's tear-jerker La bohème is always a crowd-pleaser for any opera festival. This production at The Grange Festival is the first opera from French actor-turned-director David Geselson who created it for Opéra National de Nancy Lorraine in 2025. Featuring some strong singing and exquisite playing from the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, the production loses clarity by Geselson's focus on art and politics.

The production places the bohemians in the heart of Paris around the July Revolution of 1830, which focused on overthrowing the last vestiges of monarchy and bring democracy back to the people. Geselson uses projections of revolutionary texts from Victor Hugo and Baudelaire and artworks by Turner, Goya and Delacroix to try to connect this to the story, but the connection feels less than organic and often rather opaque.

Geselson’s director’s note suggests that Mimì's death is a triumph in the struggle for social freedom. But her death is not for a political cause; it is the tragedy of poverty. This can indeed be seen as a consequence of politics, but it is not a triumph and Puccini's treatment of her death is nothing other than an absolute tragedy.

The young cast give a very solid performance. Luke Norvell gives us a very lyrical rendition of "O soave fanciulla" as Rodolfo and his "Che gelida manina" is well balanced. Sparks do not quite fly with Chilean soprano Isabela Díaz as Mimì, but Diáz's performance radiates with emotion and expression. Her "Mi chiamano Mimì" is delicate and lightly playful, with clear growth in her vocal power (ironically) as she lays dying at the end of the opera.

It is clear that Musetta is the most fun character to play and Rhian Lois embodies all her wit, vim and diva-like tendancies. Her "Quando me’n vo" is bright and beautifully sung.

Patrick Dow is a more charismatic Marcello than is often seen, while Jamie Woollard shows a measured bass as Colline. Dan D’Souza could have more vigour as Schaunard, as the quartet of friends do not always radiate notable warmth when they are together.

Richard Farnes conducts the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra in lively and energetic rendition of the score. There are points where the music overwhelms the voices on stage somewhat, but the sound is gorgeous throughout.

Act One is dominated by a projection of Delacroix’s Massacre onto a gauze curtain covering the whole stage. The effect is dramatic, but also distracting and lacking in connection. Muted lighting by Jérémie Papin creates atmosphere and the poetic quotations, also projected on the gauze, could refer to the theme of doomed love in the opera, but again distract from the music itself. 

The final act is the most successful, as the whole cast seem to settle into their roles and there is a cohesion not seen in the rest of the production. A parade of figures holding lit candles slowly spreads across the stage, with the flames snuffed out as the last note fades. It is a deeply moving moment, but not enough to compensate for a rather muddled production.

La bohème is at The Grange Festival on 14, 20, 27 June and 1, 5, 11 July