11, 14, 16 & 18 Oct 2008

19.30, Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London WC2E 9DD; Box Office: 020 7304 4000

A lost key, an extinguished candle and an accidental touch in the dark. So begins one of the great, tragic romances of all opera as the cold hands of the fragile seamstress Mimi warm the heart of the poet Rodolfo in lyrical seduction. Puccini’s gloriously tuneful work follows their story through a year from that first meeting through jealous separation to a poignant death-bed reconciliation. A fine cast of names familiar from previous Royal Opera performances is under the expert baton of Christian Badea, a conductor especially noted for his interpretations of Puccini.

Details on www.roh.org.uk