The centenary of Puccini’s death falls later this year, and the Royal Opera has effectively opened the commemorations and tributes with a big revival, the fourth , of Richard Jones’s 2017 staging of La Bohème. There are three casts, of which this was the second: the performance also marked the return of Angela Gheorghiu to the role of Mimì, with which she launched her international career when she first it sang at Covent Garden in 1992.
As one might expect, she was cheered on by fans, then greeted with a rapturous ovation as she took her curtain call. It must also be acknowledged, however, that her voice and artistry are no longer quite what they were. The dark, liquid tone that used to be so striking, is now only intermittently in evidence. There was some wayward intonation, particularly at the start, and Mi chiamano Mimì, taken with almost tentative slowness, seemed underpowered, the great phrases of the central section not really flowing as they should. The later acts were more secure without equalling the intensity she once brought to them: her death scene, though, was admirably unsentimental and touchingly done.
