Puccini’s tragic love story is set in the Latin Quarter of Paris among the bohemian students whose hectic gaiety only partially masks the despair and pain that threaten their lives. It remains one of the most popular of all operas with its stark contrasts of lively humor and poignant tragedy.

In this ENO recording by Jonathan Miller, he and designer Isabella Bywater have set Puccini’s opera in the Paris of the 1930s, the era of the Depression. Together they have created an unromanticised view of bohemian life, drawing inspiration from the realism and atmosphere caught in the films and sepia-tinted photos of the period.

American soprano Melody Moore stars as Mimi with British tenor Alfie Boe as Rodolfo, whose tender love affair is doomed from the start.

‘…Miller…observes human behavior in ways that can be immensely telling ‘
INDEPENDENT

‘Miguel Harth-Bedoya draws a superb account of the score from the ENO orchestra: passionate yet supple, evoking the crackle of fire in the garret one minute and the stirrings of love the next.’
EVENING STANDARD

‘ Alfie Boe’s slightly earnest, boyish charm was through and through honest, from start to tragic finish…..the intensity and truthfulness he communicates is irresistible.’
INDEPENDENT

English National Opera
Music – Giacomo Puccini
Libretto- Giacosa & Illica
Director – Jonathan Miller
Marcello – Roland Wood
Rodolfo – Alfie Boe
Colline – Paul Putnis
Schaunard – David Stout
Benoit – Simon Butteriss
Mimi – Melody Moore
Parpignol – Phillip Daggett
Musetta – Hanan Alattar
Alcindoro – Richard Angas
Policeman – Christopher Ross
Official – Andrew Tinkler

The English National Opera Chorus
Orchestra of the ENO