La Boheme - National Concert Hall

This Lyric Opera production was a tad disappointing. I still don't think I know enough about opera to give the proper critique but I talked to a couple of old hats who may have helped fill in the blanks. 'Of course, we're all used to hearing Calas and Pavarotti. It would be hard for the singers to compare.' 'The thing with Boheme is that it needs to be sung by the best. It's quite a simple opera. The voices must be superlative as they carry the show.'
In this case, the women dominated, Claudia Boyle as Musetta and Jee Hyun Lim as Mimi, the latter offering the only outstanding vocal performance. It was wonderful to see her spirited theatrics, to hear her clear soprano and wonder at the clumsy juxtaposition of her male counterpart (Ryan MacPherson) - who acted like pantomime and sung mute. In fairness to the chap, it was tricky for him to compete with the arduos Youth Orchestra. The pitt was level with the stage and he literally had to stand on a chair to throw his voice at the audience if he wanted a fair chance. For me this was a shame, as some of the loveliest moments are in duet but only Mimi could be distinguished in the clamour.
I'm not sure, but it was probably the fault of the director. I'll be wary of Vivian Coates.

DIARIT: 7/10