A story can be told in different ways and in different settings. It is precisely for this reason that the Hungarian State Opera decided to retain Kálmán Nádasdy's famous 1937 direction of La bohème at the Opera House while also adding another interpretation to the programme at the Erkel Theatre.

And not just any direction, but the one developed for the 2012 Salzburg Festival by one of the most exciting young opera directors of our times: Damiano Michieletto. He has worked at Milan’s La Scala, Venice’s La Fenice, Vienna’s Theater an der Wien, the Paris Palais Garnier, and will soon be making his debut at London’s Royal Opera House as well.

The internationally known artist presents before us a map of modern Paris: its bohemians are the impetuous and lovable youths of today, and the windows of their rented flats glow with their amour. The direction faithfully and rivetingly interprets both the message of Puccini’s original work and the love of Mimi and Rodolfo, and their ensuing tragedy, which is something that can also happen today, in contemporary surroundings, in just the same way.

Conductor: János Kovács
Director: Damiano Michieletto
Set designer: Paolo Fantin
Costume designer: Carla Teti

Cast: Gergely Boncsér, Zoltán Nagy, Zsolt Haja, András Kiss, Orsolya Sáfár, Ildikó Szakács, Gábor Gárday, Lajos Geiger, László Beöthy-Kiss

Premiere: 19 February 2016, 7 p.m., Erkel Theatre

Further dates: 21, 26, 28 February, 3 March 2016

Source: Opera.hu