Steven Pimlott's 1993 English National Orchestra production of La Bohème, now on its fifth revival, relocates Puccini to the world of French existentialism. The opera has been updated to Paris in the late 1950s, the city of Sartre, de Beauvoir and Camus. We're in an absurdist hell - as one of Marcello's paintings forcefully reminds us - in which human motivation is reduced to acts of bravado on the edge of an abyss and in which single moments of existence can change lives for ever.
The relationship between Rodolfo and Mimi results from a casual pick-up, engineered as much by her as it is by him: she's clearly lying when she says she has dropped her key in his flat. The denizens of the Cafe Momus - where Musetta, got up like Rita Hayworth in Gilda, performs a cabaret striptease - are forlorn creatures, clinging in desperation to their self-created identities.
It is all admirably unsentimental and serves as a forceful reminder that La Bohème is not so much a Romantic tragedy as a realistic study of passion and futility. Yet a certain chill emanates from it. Pimlott is often austerely objective where Puccini is compassionate. At times we end up watching with detachment, rather than becoming emotionally involved, and it's only in the harrowing final scenes that the production really grips.
The cast are unfailingly committed, though there are moments of musical unevenness. Rhys Meirion's voice is more suited to Mozart than Puccini and there are times when his Rodolfo, though elegant, is underpowered. As Mimi, Linda Richardson takes a while to settle; there is a hint of steel in the tone, telling in the dramatic outpourings of the third act though less appealing elsewhere. Alycia Fashae, all legs and cleavage, looks good as Musetta, but can't disguise the fact that her voice lacks body in its lower registers.
The one great performance comes from David Kempster as Marcello, sexy, touching and revealing a depth of vulnerability in the character that some interpreters overlook. And Michael Lloyd's conducting is glorious: the ebb and flow of the score is flawlessly judged while the playing from the ENO orchestra is immaculate.
In rep until November 7. Box office: 020-7632 8300.
