For an old faithful about to be put down, WNO's current production of Puccini's La Boheme is in surprisingly good shape.
Goran Jarvefelt's exemplary tear-jerker was first seen at the New Theatre, Cardiff, 25 years ago, and might not have been expected to last this long.
Torn between its box-office popularity and the need to keep the repertoire buzzing with fresh productions, the company has decided to kill it off while about to announce plans for a new one.
Only Joachim Herz's 1978 production of the same composer's Madam Butterfly has lasted longer, being scheduled for yet another revival this autumn.
Despite its age and the assumption that many who filled the WMC for the first night of its final outing had seen it before, the behaviour of some sections of the audience in applauding jarringly in musical mid-sentence threatened to cloud the show.
This was unfortunate, as both Rebecca Evans as Mimi and Gwyn Hughes Jones as Rodolfo were quick to re-ignite the opera's central tenderness and passion, carrying it through to the end.
Jason Howard's Marcello and Victoria Joyce's Musetta (with one of the sexiest and most heartily-delivered Waltz Songs in the production's history) kept the subordinate love interest strong and up front.
Conductor Andrew Greenwood's efforts in the pit drove home the musical points in those places where the exchanges on stage are trifling, concentrating the minds of David Soar (Colline), David Stout (Schaunard) and Howard Kirk (Benoit) on one of the busiest - and funniest - male ensembles in modern opera.
A gold star for Caroline Chaney, the revival director, who has helped to make the send-off as memorable as the premiere was auspicious.
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