It also provides a time when it was actually possible for struggling artists to dwell in the inner-city. The 1968 setting gives Potra the scope for relatively modern apparel, while avoiding the need to include any modern technology. The animated projections are just occasionally a little corny, but in sending images to the 3000-strong seating bank, the idea is as purposeful as it is, quite frequently, attractive. While the audience has the Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge in its sights, the bohemians look out on the Eiffel Tower. Potra’s vision is enhanced by the video designs of Marco Devetak, which play on the angled window ceiling and a large screen on stage right.

Designer Dan Potra encircles the elevated garret with icy cobblestoned streets, where children play, lovers meet, and a petite young woman sells her embroidery on the street before passing by the garret for a chance encounter that is to lead to a passionate love affair. The grand scale of the Harbour Opera widens the lens to view the streetscape around and about the struggling artists’ rooftop garret. With a cast of excellent singers, the season deserves to be a resounding popular success.

Paris Opera may have recently set La Bohème in outer space, but director Andy Morton maintains the original setting of Paris, adding interest simply and intelligently by updating the time period to 1968. The new production succeeds for the primary reason that it presents the cherished opera as it was intended to be seen. Opera Australia neatly balances the spectacular with the intimate as the seventh season of firmly established opera attraction Handa Opera on Sydney Harbour turns its sights on one of the world’s most beloved operas, La Bohème.

La boheme opera melbourne reviews