Doomed love and dying heroines are central to Puccini and La Boheme, premiered in 1896, which tells the story of poor student poet Rodolfo's love for the consumptive seamstress Mimi is no exception.

The Russian State Opera of Siberia's production, sung in Italian with English surtitles and conducted by Alexander Kosinsky did full justice to Puccini's rich vein of vocal melody and colourful orchestration.

It was beautifully played by the orchestra and strongly sung, particularly by Konstantin Tolstobrov as a well-fed, mellifluous Rodolfo, Oleg Alekseev as an arty Marcello, and Olga Ushakova, glamorous and flirty as Musetta. As Mimi, Larisa Marzoeva looked suitably frail if far too old. In the cruelly demanding higher register her voice was somewhat sharp and shrill.

It lacked passion and conviction and failed to engage. Too many arias were sung stiffly to the audience, there was insufficient eye contact and much stagey gesturing.

A mislaid wig, an elusive bonnet possibly masquerading as a shawl, the groping for a lost key on a brightly lit stage, and some infelicitous translations ("I'm gutted") did not help.