Opera / La Bohème by Giacomo Puccini, Opera Australia. At Canberra Theatre, until July 19. Reviewed by MICHAEL WILSON.

Many have said before that to really enjoy opera requires, above all else, the ability and the willingness to suspend disbelief. 

The mark of a really good production is that you don’t think about your suspension of disbelief too often throughout the evening. 

Such was the quality and stagecraft of this production that the dramatic scenarios (and the text sung in Italian, with English surtitles) didn’t seem improbable.

Indeed, in not pretending to be anything it wasn’t, this touring production of Puccini’s most famous opera made simplicity its greatest strength.

To be fair, La Bohème has one of the more believable plots in the classical operatic repertoire. 

No counts and countesses; no fairies or nymphs. It depicts ordinary people in scenarios we can all relate to: a bunch of aspiring young artists and artisans, living in cheap shared accommodation, struggling to make the rent payments.

And a dose of tuberculosis on the side for the heroine, supplying the tragic element: a very unpleasant disease, but one that could easily afflict the “blameless”. 

Dean Bryant’s adaptation places the characters in 1970s Paris, with clever but simple sets, and scene changes bracketed by the use of curtain backdrops and inventive lighting design.

A cantina centre stage in one scene was flipped to become a bus shelter in the next. This meant that good acting was needed to carry the show, and the whole cast (including children’s chorus supplied by the Canberra Children’s Choir) met this challenge admirably.

As one would expect from our national opera company, the musicianship of this production was its crowning glory. Despite the modest stage and flat acoustic of the Canberra Theatre, there was not the slightest sense that Canberra was seeing a B-team of performers, and no hint that the performers were not giving it what they would have in the Joan Sutherland Theatre at the Sydney Opera House.

John Longmuir’s bell-like tenor as Rodolfo was assured and consistent throughout the evening, and perfectly matched soprano Danita Weatherstone in the role of Mimi.

Longmuir’s unaffected and thoughtful acting – including slight gestures and subtle facial expressions – was especially convincing. The other singers were uniformly strong, and Andrew Williams (Marcello) and Cathy-Di Zhang (Musetta) proved themselves equally well cast as the drama’s second couple. 

Of particular note was the superb quality of the small Opera Australia National Touring Orchestra. 

All instruments needed to take solo roles at various points, and the sound quality and sensitivity of their performance was pivotal in achieving the emotional impact needed in the most poignant moments of the opera.

Only occasionally did the orchestra overwhelm some quieter moments of ensemble singing. Conductor Simon Bruckard was considerate of and sensitive to the artistry of the singers, giving them space to breathe and allowing them to command the drama of the moment.