On Monday 14th January 2013 twelve BBCM children attended the schools’ matinee performance of La Boheme at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. John Copley’s exemplary staging of Puccini’s masterpiece served as a wonderful example of what is great about opera. Below see our twelve reviews of this exceptional event.

I went to see La Boheme at the Royal Opera House. I sat on the edge at the back next to my friend Molly. The curtains opened, the orchestra started to play and the lights came on. I was excited because the violins and cellos started playing. Marcello was painting, Rodolfo was in the same house and the other friends were standing there. I remember above the stage it said it was the middle of winter. The characters started a fire.
My favourite bits of the opera were the funny bits when Rodolfo threw a book out of the window at Marcello. And when Marcello tripped downstairs and Rodolfo said, 'Are you dead yet!'. Also, at the end when all the singers bowed, one – who was Korean, I think – went off dancing Gangnam style!
I thought the music was loud and comforting and sometimes exciting. My favourite singer was Marcello, a very kind character. His voice was low and loud. I liked the cafe scene when one person was pushing the toy store. The children had to sing and it was quite difficult music.
It's very sad when Mimi dies. Musetta and Marcello sing together and Schaunard and Colline also sing. The music was very sad and I heard lots of violins. Other instruments I heard during the opera were clarinets and a whistle.
Clem Campbell, age 6

On Monday 14 of January I went to the opera called La Boheme at the Covent Garden Royal Opera House. My favourite part was a bit at near the end that was sad and sung movingly by Mimi (played by Maija Kovalevska) as she lay ill after having been brought in by Musetta (played by Stefania Dovhan). I liked the background stage design that came after the last break best out of all the background stage designs because it had snow in it and it was actually snowing on stage. I also liked the build up towards the end because the orchestra and acting was most dramatic there at the climax. When Mimi died Rodolfo’s friends were the first to notice and fell silent, and then stared blankly at Rodolfo until he noticed too. Then Rodolfo cried out in grief, rushed to the bed and then sang more and more loudly while the orchestra made a crescendo. Rodolfo was well played and sung by Dmytro Popov. Out of all the singers I thought Musetta had the most beautiful voice.
Juliette Majid, age 8

On Monday 14th of January 2013 I went to the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, London, with my music teacher, Agnes Kory, and other friends from the BBCM. There were twelve of us and we all had to wear our music uniform and be there on time so that we wouldn’t miss the performance.
The opera I went to see is called La Bohème. The music was composed by Giacomo Puccini and the libretto was written by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa.
From where I was sitting, I could sometimes see the conductor’s baton, it was very exciting.
The opera is in four acts, which means it’s divided in four different parts. It takes place in Paris around 1830 and it tells the story of four friends who are poor artists.
They live in an old flat and don’t have much money. There are two main men characters. Rodolfo, who is a poet and we see him write at his desk in Act I. His desk is at the top of the stairs. And there is Marcello who is a painter. We can see one of his paintings in the set of Act I and Act IV. There is also, Colline, who is a philosopher and Schaunard, who is a musician. I thought Schaunard was fun and I liked his costume.
In the first part, Act I, it’s Christmas Eve. They are very cold because they don’t have enough money to buy wood. On stage, there is a stove, a table and chairs. There are also stairs that lead to a sort of mezzanine. While the others are out, Rodolfo falls in love with Mimi, his neighbour. I had listened to their song at home and I thought it sounded different.
In the second part, Act II, we see all the characters at the market. It’s fun. A lot is happening on stage and in the orchestra. There are moments when everybody sings together. There are lots of children who are part of the chorus. They want food and toys from Parpignol. They are holding their hats and baskets to get some food in them. There are also soldiers marching and people join them along the line. The stage is very busy. The singing gets very loud.
In the third part, Act III, it’s very cold and it’s even snowing. I thought it was lovely to see pretend snow falling. It was very nice and I heard a lot of children in the audience go “wow”. But it’s quite a sad part and I didn’t like seeing Mimi fall in the snow because she doesn’t feel well.
The fourth part, Act IV takes place in the flat, like Act I. When Mimi arrives, we see that she wears a different dress, maybe a bit nicer. But she is very ill and dies. Rodolfo cries, his head resting on Mimi’s stomach.
I didn’t know there would be children in the show and I thought it was nice to hear them sing. I really liked the costumes. They are a bit old-fashioned, often in the grey and brown tones. Women wear long dresses. Men wear jackets and ties. At the market, Musetta has a colourful dress. It was my favourite. The children from the chorus wear rags.
At the end of the show, all the children and adults who came to see the performance clapped when the actors came to bow. The actress who plays Mimi was in the middle of them all. She’s the one who got the most cheers.
To finish with, let me tell you what happened at the end of the clapping. The actor who plays Schaunard did a bit of the “Gangnam Style”. It was funny but I didn’t expect that at the opera!
Tilia Zamparo, age 7 (and 2 months)

This opera – staged by John Copley and conducted by Paul Wynne Griffiths – was composed by Puccini in Italy in the nineteenth century. It's about Rodolfo, a young writer, who falls in love with a girl called Mimi. They live in Paris and they are really poor. Their friends are called Marcello, who is Rodolfo's best friend, and Musetta his girlfriend. I liked it when Rodolfo and his friends teased the old man who came for the rent, and everyone sang together laughing at him falling in love when he was already married. The music and singing was really lively and playful.
Rodolfo and Mimi met in the moonlight in the dark house outside Rodolfo’s rooms, and he told his friends he wasn't alone, and he would come to the cafe later. Mimi and Rodolfo sang a beautiful duet together. The music was sweet and gentle at first and then it got louder and more passionate, with the violins especially.
Everyone met at the cafe Momus in the Latin Quarter. Mimi had a new hat from Rodolfo and met his friends. When Musetta came in she was showing off with her singing, looking at Marcello.
After the interval, Mimi and Rodolfo weren't together anymore because he was so jealous. Then Musetta and Marcello weren't together either and everyone was sad. The end was really unhappy because when Mimi comes back to Rodolfo, she is dying. Mimi lay on Rodolfo's bed in his attic. Musetta gets Marcello to sell her earrings to buy medicine and get the doctor. Al the friends were together, then they left them alone to give them space. The music was really sad and slow. There were soft violins, and the rest of the orchestra were quietly playing too. Rodolfo was trying to lay down on the bed with her and hold her so she could breath but then Mimi dies.
Joseph Teague, age 8

On Monday the 14th of January we had the privilege of attending the schools’ matinee of this opera.
In the first act, which took place in Rodolfo’s attic, the costumes, the props and the way they were talking (singing) about the cold shows the struggle that the characters were going through to provide enough food, water and warmth to survive. When Rodolfo first meets Mimi, he shows a big change of character from before. He was moaning and complaining about the cold but when he met her he showed a lot of his softness. Dmytro Popov, with his singing (Che gelida manina), is able to distinguish different emotions from each other.
The second act is held at a café and is constantly full of people and action. I really loved it because there everyone seemed to be happy until the children started to fight over Parpignol’s toys. The children show great joy and rush to Parpignol, and their expressions get gradually angrier as they fight over the toys. The atmosphere shows that it is late and the effect is made clearer when the women say to the children: “shouldn’t you be in bed?” Here, when Musetta sings, the tone and expression have the desired effect: she really sounds as if she is used to being flattered.
There is a great contrast between the second act and the third act. The second act is constantly gay and careless whilst the third one is downcast. Not only the singing and the acting show that it is a sad and downcast act, but also the scenery and the small amount of light do.
Act four is made up of nostalgia and tragedy. This is shown by the way that Rodolfo and Marcello sing (for instance, O Mimì, tu più non torni). The tone gets lighter when they act the parody of a banquet but it becomes tragic with the arrival of Mimi and her death.
I really loved the music of this opera and with all the scenes and acting is really coming to life: it is amazing how in an opera the combination of these three forms of art (music, singing, acting) can express such a vast number of feelings, joy, sadness, desperation, love, anger, pity, with such intensity. The role of Mimi was interpreted by Maija Kovalevska and it is surprising how she could reach with her voice those high notes with such precision. The singing and the acting throughout the opera have been very realistic and the scenes were well chosen for these situations as well. I found the costumes of the 1800s interesting.
Francesca Di Cecio, age 8

I went to the Royal Opera House to see La Boheme by the composer Puccini. I sat at the back next to Adam and Molly. The opera is about Bohemians - people who don't follow the rules. For example they didn't pay their taxes and they also made the landlord forget that they had to pay their rent. Not following the rules didn't work out for them because they were poor and kept on getting ill.
My favourite Bohemian was Colline (the philosopher). He didn't sing much at all because he wasn't a main character. My favourite scene was when they were all dancing and pretended that they were having a fancy meal. They wanted to pretend they were rich. I liked this scene because it was funny.
The costumes were very good and really made it look like another period, probably Victorian times. The women wore bonnets and muffs and the men wore top hats, ties and old-fashioned trousers.
I didn't really like the music in La Boheme. I prefer the music from Peter Grimes (another opera I've seen at the Opera House) because it is easier to remember.
La Boheme had a sad ending when Mimi dies. All operas seem to end badly!
Asa Campbell, age 9

On Monday 14th January I went on a trip to the Royal Opera House with my music
teacher, Agnes Kory, and other pupils from the BBCM.
The opera we saw is entitled La Bohème. The music of the opera was composed by Giacomo Puccini and the libretto was written by Giuseppe Giasosa and Luigi Illica. The story comes from Henry Murger’s Scènes de la vie de Bohème.
La Bohème is Puccini’s fourth opera. It tells the story of four artists, Rodolfo, Marcello, Colline, and Schaunard. They live together in a small studio flat in Paris. They are what is called bohemian artists, that is to say that they believe they can live thanks to their art and tend to stay on the fringe of society.
Act I, the curtain opens on a stage that is quite bare. You can see the stove on the left.
It is almost like an additional central character because the artists are cold and they concentrate a lot on this piece of furniture. There is a bed to the right. In the fourth act, the set is exactly the same and this time, it is the bed which has a more central role. There is also a table and some chairs. One of the chairs is used when the landlord comes and visits them to ask them to pay the rent. Mimi, who is one of the two main female characters, with Musetta, wears the same dress throughout act I, II and III but changes in act IV. The way she dresses is rather simple compared to Musetta’s, who is more fashionable. I think Schaunard’s costume is very fancy. At the top of the stairs, there is one of Marcello’s paintings to the left and Rodolfo’s desk to the right.
Act II, the set changes completely and it is much more lively than in Act I. There are more people on stage, especially children who are part of the chorus. They sing when Parpignol arrives. There is more happening everywhere. Musetta is definitely the character that stands out the most in her brightly coloured dress. Her costume is very beautiful. Another thing that stands out in act II is a live prop, aka Musetta’s dog.
Act III is quieter, like Act I. In comparison to the second act, the third act is sadder and it is reflected in the music. It suddenly feels colder when the curtain opens. The snow falling on stage creates a beautiful effect. I thought it was an interesting coincidence because when I cycled to the opera that morning, it was also snowing on the streets in London. In front of the restaurant there are cases of bottles and they are used as a seat by Marcello.
Act IV, we come back to the studio flat. As I said earlier, the set is identical to Act I except that the bed is moved to the centre of the stage before Mimi dies. When Marcello and Musetta go and look for a muff to warm up Mimi’s hands, Rodolfo and Mimi are on their own in the flat, they both admit they love each other and the whole of the musical atmosphere and the singing are very moving.
Although I knew the plot, it was good to read the surtitles and follow the story that way.
I really liked this performance and I thought the actors were absolutely stunning. I’m really grateful I had the opportunity to take part in yet another ROH outing with my
BBCM school of music.
Scipio Zamparo, age 9

The opera La Boheme by Giacomo Puccini (here directed by John Copley and conducted by Paul Wynne Griffiths) is the story of two young poor lovers in bohemian Paris, a poet called Rodolfo ( played by Dmytro Popov) and a maid called Mimi (played by Maija Kovalevska), and their friends Marcello and Musetta.
The opera opened with a scene where Rodolfo and Marcello are freezing and are burning Rodolfo's manuscript. Their friends come and they tease the landlord so they don't have to pay the rent which was a funny scene. The singing was ensemble with the landlord’s deep voice getting drunker and drunker and the young men singing playfully.
Rodolfo and Mimi meet when he helps her in the dark because her candle has gone out and she can't find her key, and they fall in love in a beautiful duet. They go together to find his friends at the cafe. This was my favourite scene with all the people laughing and shouting as Musetta is trying to get her old boyfriend Marcello's attention but he is ignoring her and she sings a bold, flirtatious solo with all the men looking at her. I loved the cafe set, it was really colourful with mainly oranges and browns and so were the costumes. In the end Musetta gets Marcello back and then they, Rodolfo and Mimi run off leaving Musetta's rich old boyfriend to pay the bill!
Unlike the fun and joy in the first half, in the second half everything starts to go tragically wrong. Mimi is dying and Rodolfo is not rich enough to help her and that's why he's being so mean to her and she leaves him. Mimi finds out he was only trying to help, and they do a sad duet of how they have to separate.
The last scene is very dramatic as Mimi has not long to live. She and Rodolfo sing of their past happy times they had and their friends go and buy medicine. Colline even sells his beloved coat for Mimi. Mimi dies and Rodolfo is devastated and sad music is played.
Over all it was one of the best operas I've seen!!!
Molly Teague, age 11

I have been waiting for the day of the opera performance for weeks. I listened to the music and read the story of La Boheme. When finally the day came, it was amazing.
My favourite character from the opera was Musetta. I liked her bright costumes, cheerful character and beautiful singing. Her best part is in café Momus, where she first appears and makes Alcindoro pay for everyone.
The opera takes place in the bohemian Latin quarter of Paris, in the 1830s. The first act is in an attic room, where four friends live; one of them is Rodolfo the poet. This is where he meets and falls in love with Mimi.
The second act is in café Momus. It is a much brighter and liverier scene. The stage is full with people singing and acting out various smaller scenes on two levels. Act Three is much quieter; it is outside, next to some gates. It is really beautiful as Mimi sings with Rodolfo while the snow is falling all around them. The last act is back again in the attic where Rodolfo lives. I thought that all three stage settings were very different, yet very realistic.
I enjoyed the music of the opera and the singing. Some parts of the music were really dramatic; changing from soft quiet notes to loud and powerful sounds. The part of the music I liked most is where the bells were ringing. Another favourite was Musetta’s singing.
I liked the opera and would go to see it again if I had a chance.
Abigail Aradi, age 10

I went to see La Boheme on the 14th of January 2013. It was a very interesting and unique experience. Before seeing the opera I had listened to the music over and over again, enjoying it thoroughly; however the real life experience was even better.
Apart from the music one of the best features of the opera was the stage layout. The best setting was the café scene. Sitting in café Momus you could see the busy street with all sorts of characters: vendors, lots of children, soldiers, waiters and other ordinary people. One of the vendors was a toy vendor. The reason I liked this set was because it was all very clear what was happening even though the stage was full with various characters doing their own things; yet for the audience it was easy to follow everything that was happening all at once. Another beautiful scene was the snowy courtyard scene. It was all very realistic.
I really enjoyed the music of the opera, too. Out of everybody I enjoyed most Marcello and Musetta’s voice. They stood out for me; especially when they were singing together. I knew from the story that Mimi was ill and that she was supposed to be close to dying, but the singing of Mimi was still quite strong. Only her coughing gave her illness away.
I really enjoyed the opera and I thought it was a great performance.
Adam Aradi, age 12

I thought that the production of Giacomo Puccini’s La Boheme on the 14th of January at The Royal Opera House schools’ matinee was incredible.
The scenery was absolutely amazing and spell-binding. It gave the performance such an enchanting feeling and made it seem so realistic. It was very engaging, the acting was perfect and gave you a vivid image of what it would have been like in Paris, around 1830 and a clear picture of the characters; the relationship between Mimi and Rodolfo, Marcello and Musetta. They showed their personalities very well, these were made clear. I liked it how Musetta was very ostentatious. When Mimi died it was very touching and sad, it gave you a little pang. The artist (Marcello) was very funny when he was trying to resist the temptation of going back to Musetta.
The conductor was Paul Wynne Griffiths. The singing was gobsmacking: I thought the projection and quality of the sound was just amazing, the voices were so clear and soft, even when the singers sang with affection the sound was still loud. The song ‘Your little hand is frozen’ was very well performed and was a great entrance to the performance.
The orchestra played very well. The way the music was played gave the performance a special atmosphere and it went really well with the opera. It enhanced the singing and gave it a pillow for comfort. It was perfect when there were dramatic moments and happy jolly moments; the combination was very good.
I really liked the costumes they matched each character really well and you could tell who was rich or poor. The artists wore very distinguishable frocks which stood out and helped to identify who was who. All the children wore very age-appropriate clothes. I liked the make-up too; it gave the characters another touch, and brought them to life. It also showed who was rich or poor. I enjoyed the dancing which made the performance lively. There were funny parts which were very entertaining such as when the rent collector knocked on the door and everyone was messing about. Overall I thought the production was fantastic and very entertaining. The directing was clearly fabulous and I really, really liked it, it was phenomenal.
Julia Finkel, age 13

John Copley brings a vivid depiction of 19th-century Paris back to the Royal Opera House in the latest revival of his 1974 production of Puccini’s La Bohème. Watching the production today, one has no idea that it is almost forty years old. The concept of presenting Paris’ Latin Quarter in such a meticulous manner is highly effective on stage, and still seems an innovative technique. The late Julia Trevelyan Oman’s set design is a key feature of the production. The brilliant detail of architecture and furnishings, etc. complements the music wonderfully, by immersing the audience in the bohemianism without distracting from Puccini’s composition, except perhaps for the gasps as the curtains revealed Café Momus and the Barrière d’Enfer.
Paul Wynne Griffiths conducted, and produced a lovely sound with the orchestra.
The four young artists were portrayed particularly well, the quartet interacting convincingly and engagingly. This applies particularly to Jihoon Kim (playing Colline) and Michel De Souza (as Schaunard) considering this was their first work with the ROH. Dmytro Popov and Maija Kovalevska created a charming scene of Rodolfo and Mimi’s meeting, performing ‘O soave fanciulla’ particularly sweetly.
The dimensions of the attic set were used very effectively here, the staircase structure encasing the couple, with ingenious lighting techniques from John Charlton.
The hubbub of Latin Quarter streets, although jaw dropping at first was presented marvellously with a large chorus in the Parpignol scene, while our main characters remained prominent on the opposite side of the stage. The confusion created by Musetta was choreographed excellently, and Auden Iversen demonstrated wonderful singing here in his initial protest against the mischievous woman.
The stunning set of the Barrière d’Enfer was perfectly designed for the captivating scene of Mimi and Rudolfo’s reunion; it really was very beautiful. The pair certainly acted well as they left through the falling snow.
In the return to Rudolfo’s attic, more brilliant choreography was seen in the fencing duel between Colline and Schaunard. Popov and Kovalevska’s last duet ('Sono andati?’) was performed fabulously. Of course, Popov was truly magnificent in the final scene.
Overall, I found this production very impressive and a definite pleasure to watch.
Theo Finkel, age 16