Bo-ho: ETO takes Bohème to Hackney

By Dominic Lowe, 28 February 2022

Loading, please wait...

See full listing

“a sense of camaraderie and friendship warming an otherwise frigid attic”

Reviewed at Hackney Empire, London on 26 February 2022

Puccini, La bohème

English Touring Opera

Dionysis Grammenos, Conductor

James Conway, Director

Florence de Maré, Set Designer, Costume Designer

Mark Howland, Lighting Designer

English Touring Opera Orchestra

English Touring Opera Chorus

Christopher Moon-Little, Revival Director

Neil Irish, Revival Designer

Luciano Botelho, Rodolfo

Francesca Chiejina, Mimì

Michel de Souza, Marcello

April Koyejo-Audiger, Musetta

Trevor Bowes, Colline

Themba Mvula, Schaunard

Matthew McKinney, Benoît

Philip Wilcox, Alcindoro

Art imitates art in ETO’s bracing new Pagliacci

Dominic Lowe, 10th April

Divorced from Cavalleria rusticana, English Touring Opera’s contemporary take on Leoncavallo’s masterpiece ticks all the boxes.

****1

English Touring Opera transfers Donizetti to the English coast

Dominic Lowe, 27th September

L'elisir d'amore may not immediately bring Skegness or Romney to mind, but ETO's new production works quite well there... just look out for the seagulls!

***11

Blissful and hard-boiled: I Capuleti e i Montecchi at ETO

David Karlin, 22nd February

Eloise Lally shifts the Romeo and Juliet love story into New York mafia families. Jessica Cale and Samantha Price provide blissful bel canto as the star-crossed lovers.

****1

A tender Shakespeare-inspired curio from English Touring Opera

Susannah Moody, 15th February

ETO kicks off its spring season with What Dreams May Come, a strange and moving staging of songs inspired by William Shakespeare.

***11

Theatrically poverty-stricken: ETO's Blond Eckbert

Mark Valencia, 18th October

Judith Weir's cryptic folk opera lacks the narrative propulsion necessary to enthral an audience, and without resolution there is no catharsis.

**111

ETO's The Snowmaiden melts the heart and gladdens the ears

Dominic Lowe, 28th September

Olivia Fuchs' production of Rimsky-Korsakov's charming fable for ETO begins its tour in Hackney and is worth travelling to see. Catch this thoughtful production in a town near you.

****1

More reviews...

Dominic Lowe

Dominic Lowe recently completed a degree in Classics, and one of his great interests is the reception of Greece and Rome in opera. A regular opera-goer since his very early teens, he is particularly keen on the hidden operatic gems of the 19th century. He is largely based in the South of England.