Set in the artistic but impoverished milieu of early 19th-century Paris, the tragic love of the poet Rodolfo and seamstress Mimì is one of the most affecting in all opera. La Bohème’s arias are also some of the most intensely passionate Puccini ever wrote, making it is one of the best-loved of all his works. In what Opera News called a ‘thorough rethinking and brilliant re-creation’ this exceptional Oslo production, strongly cast and conducted, and staged by internationally acclaimed director Stefan Herheim, explores the work as never before to create what The New York Times called an ‘ultimately haunting’ experience.

This 2012 Oslo Opera House production was described as a ‘surreal, moving experience’ by The New York Times. The Opera Quarterly added that director Stefan Herheim ‘has reminded us what the plot of La Bohème is really about and forced us to reflect both upon the opera’s ugly realities and upon our own blindness to it.’

Gramophone also praised the cast: ‘The cast’s singing is clearly invigorated by these fresh staging ideas… Tenor Diego Torre has a wonderfully robust high C; soprano Marita Sølberg is a stylistically Italianate as any Mimì I’ve ever heard. Don’t schedule any social engagements after watching this. You might not be in any shape to keep them.’

Equally at home on the concert platform and the opera stage, Eivind Gullberg Jensen’s opera highlights include Tosca (Wiener Staatsoper), The Rake’s Progress (Finnish National Opera), Der fliegende Holländer (Opéra de Lille), Jenůfa (English National Opera), Rusalka (Teatro dell’Opera di Roma), Il corsaro (Opernhaus Zürich), Fidelio (Mahler Chamber Orchestra and Bayerische Staatsoper, and as part of the Festspielhaus Baden-Baden) as well as Eugene Onegin and La Bohème (Den Norske Opera).

Cast:
- Rodolfo: Diego Torre (tenor)
- Mimì: Marita Sølberg (soprano)
- Marcello: Vasily Ladyuk (baritone)
- Musetta: Jennifer Rowley (soprano)
- Colline: Giovanni Battista Parodi (bass)
- Schaunard: Espen Langvik (baritone)
- Benoît / Parpignol / Alcindoro / Toll Gate Keeper / Death: Svein Erik Sagbråten (tenor)

Stage director: Stefan Herheim
Set and costume designer: Heike Scheele
Lighting designer: Anders Poll
Dramaturgy: Alexander Meier-Dörzenbach
Video director: Stein-Roger Bull

Picture format: NTSC 16:9
Sound format: PCM stereo and DTS 5.1
Language: Italian
Subtitles: Italian, English, German, French, Japanese, Korean
Region code: 0 (worldwide)