When Mimi and Rodolfo meet, they fall hopelessly for each other - but the course of true love rarely runs smoothly and Puccini’s passionate and evocative music carries them from heart-stopping romance to heart-breaking loss as their story tumbles towards its conclusion.

It’s a familiar tale and one that rings true in any era. Tony award-winning Director Stewart Laing updates the action to the modern art scene of 21st century New York - as young, penniless artists, Mimi and Rodolfo, along with their friends Marcello and his flamboyant sweetheart Musetta, scrape a living together selling their work. The vibrant characters stand out all the more for the drab reality of their lives; their dreams of riches too easily lost in the chaos of the city that never sleeps…

La boheme is one of the world’s favourite operas for good reason and has inspired a generation of love stories, most recently Moulin Rouge. From Rodolfo’s tender singing of ‘Your tiny hand is frozen’ to Musetta’s provocative and fiery waltz and the beautifully guileless ‘They call me Mimi’, it perfectly captures the passion and the pain of being young, poor, and in love.

Young Irish soprano Celine Byrne and French tenor Avi Klemberg, make their Scottish Opera débuts. Nadine Livingston (who also takes the title role in this season’s Kátya Kabanová) sings Musetta. Scottish Opera Music Director Francesco Corti conducts.

Sung in Italian with English supertitles