In a grubby, unheated bedsit in the Latin Quarter live Marcello, a painter, and Rodolfo, a poet. Marcello is in his twenties, yet to grow up, living the way he does not for his art but for the good times. Rodolfo is still a lad, a dreamy type, and we guess that he will never write good poetry until he has a firmer fix on life. Their mates are Colline, who sports a warm coat over cutoffs, and Schaunard, the only one of the four with a paying job. In a sitcom set we appear to be seeing an up-dated comedy with music, until Mimi enters and changes it into a drama. Opera lite becomes opera slimline, as the young people move towards experiencing the point at which reality bites and their heedless living has to stop.

For this touring production, director Caroline Sharman has chosen a cast who can both sing very well and carry off the drama. The key part of Rodolfo is sung by Ben Kerslake, an Australian tenor with a voice that rings through the high notes seemingly without effort. He is matched by Swedish soprano Lisa Carlioth, reprising the Mimi she sang for the original Scottish Opera production. Though demure in her flirting, she knows what she wants and goes for it. Peter Snipp as Marcello sings and plays the role as a man of some impatience, with a slightly desperate edge to his desire to enjoy life. In the last act he is an excellent foil to the lovers Rodolfo and Mimi as they play out the tragic end to their love affair. Roland Davitt has his moment and takes it well in singing to his beloved coat when he decides to sell it to pay for a doctor for Mimi. Musetta is sung by Heather Hunter, also returning from the original production. Her tart, before revealing her heart of gold in the last act, sings with a brassy edge to her voice that suits perfectly her trade and her clothes. Deryck Hamon doubles the parts of Benoit, a grasping but madly eccentric landlord, and Alcindoro, a desperate sugar daddy trying to get round Musetta. Odd man out is Tim Bruce as Schaunard, whose voice is not a match for the others, and in his characterisation gives no clue to what he does to earn money.

Any opera company with a reduced cast is going to have trouble in the big scenes that were written for a chorus. This production succeeds better than most in suggesting the raucous good times in the second act. It begins with Musetta buying out the shops, with Alcindoro paying, as a small army of wheeled, silver mannequins spin through the set. This segues into Musetta holding court in the Café Momus, flashing her legs and thighs through a routine that could have been lifted from a Bob Fosse musical, as she teases her sometime lover Marcello. It has to be said, too, that a reduced opera company is going to have trouble doing without an orchestra, and this production suffers. You can’t take the Bournemouth Sonfinietta on a tour of village halls, but one hopes the pianos and their placement will be better as the tour proceeds. This piano accompaniment, as one heard it, is unsubtle. The singers struggle, but Puccini is the loser as some of his grandest music becomes mere piano chords.

Cavils cease to matter in the final scenes. Carlioth’s Mimi finds a tenderness of voice and action that sweep away the silliness from this group of young adults. Her death is beautifully sung, with beautiful responses from Rodolfo. His despairing last cry is from the heart of a changed man.An evening of great delight. It won’t make anyone prefer budget opera to the full format. But as a lively showcase for some exceptionally talented young singers, we can be grateful for this Boheme.