As the repertoire shrinks and opera companies choose to play it safe, there’s no shortage of productions of Puccini’s La Bohème on the market. However, if you want something truly original, Stefan Herheim’s radical 2012 staging of La Bohème for Norwegian National Opera is intriguing – involving even – once you’ve got your head around it. 

It opens with a man watching a woman lying dying on a modern-day hospital bed, most likely a victim of cancer. He is Rodolfo, she is Mimì, and her flatlining is the cue for Puccini’s jaunty opening music. As the first act gets under way, the hospital opens up to reveal a panorama of Paris while the medical staff – Schaunard and Colline are doctors, Marcello is a porter, Musetta a slutty nurse – transform into the opera’s familiar characters. What follows is a kind a dream-memory play as Rodolfo rewinds events inside his head in an attempt to comprehend his loss. When the gang arrives dressed vaguely à la 19th century, it begins to feel more like a traditional