Product Details

• Actors: Cheryl Barker, David Hobson, Roger Lemke, Christine Douglas, Gary Rowley
• Directors: Geoffrey Nottage
• Writers: Giuseppe Giacosa, Henri Murger, Luigi Illica
• Producers: Greg Shears, John Widdicombe
• Format: Classical, Color, NTSC
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Decca
• VHS Release Date: August 15, 1995
• Run Time: 112 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (80 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6303608051
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #186,597 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

It might be possible to know this La Bohème and not love it, but I have never met anyone who felt that way. "Oh yes," said a friend, "that's the good one where everybody is the right age." The youth and freshness of the singers are, in fact, major assets in this production. Youthful high spirits and vulnerability are delicately portrayed, with sharp contrasts between the Parisian bohemians' abject poverty and their carefree lifestyle. On DVD, La Bohème is the work where the competition is strongest. Solid arguments can be made for the staging of the Metropolitan Opera production or the vocal quality of the San Francisco production, but the Australian Opera offers the closest identification of performers with the characters they represent. The effect is usually touching, sometimes downright electrifying.

For this production, the story is moved up to Paris in the 1950s. A veneer of existentialism, a sense of the absurd, can be detected in the young men's lifestyle, but the implicit message is that, even with electricity (e.g., a massive neon sign celebrating "L'Amour"), bohemian life in the 1950s was essentially unchanged from the 1830s. There are good performances throughout, particularly by David Hobson (Rodolfo) and Cheryl Barker (Mimi), and the direction of Baz Luhrmann (Strictly Ballroom, Moulin Rouge) is outstanding. --Joe McLellan

Product Description

Item Name: Giacomo Puccini - La Bohème / Barker, Hobson, Luhrmann (Australian Opera); Studio: Kultur Video

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

52 of 54 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Bravo! Bravo! Bravo!, November 17, 2002

By 

Z. Yang (Hockessin, DE USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Puccini - La Bohème / Baz Luhrmann, The Australian Opera (DVD)

The story has been set to 1950s Paris; the characters are portrayed with young faces; the songs are sung by fresh and splendid voices, this contemporary version of La Bohème completely blew me away. In this production, whether or not the singings are perfect takes second place in the face of vitality, passion, and intensity brought out by the brilliant young cast.

Bravo, David Hobson for giving such a wonderful wonderful Rodolfo. This is the Rodolfo you'll be dreaming of. He is handsome, he is tall, and his tenor rings out with beauty, clarity, and youthfulness. To make things even better, he acts brilliantly. He gives life to every note he sings. When he belts out a high C, it's not a matter of showing off his tenor, but a real emotional outpouring. Seldom did I see vocalist acting with such depth and sincerity. He put himself so deep into the character that at the curtain calls he is still in tears.

Brava, Cheryl Barker for conveying a tender and lovely Mimi. At some places Cheryl Barker's voice is not at her best in portraying Mimi, but her acting makes up the weakness, and in the end, she has become real Mimi. Her highlight is Mimi's death scene. Of all the times I have watched this scene, not a single time was I not in tears. She and David Hobson make a very good match, between them the chemistry is convincing, which makes their parting all the more heartbreaking.

Bravo, Baz Luhrmann for the creativity and courage of blazing new trails for classical opera, and for the raw artistic design. Instead of making a cliché of yet another production of classical opera, he has turned it into a great piece of modern theater, in which the essence is embodied with realism and bestowed with novelties.

Opera lovers, especially young opera lovers, this La Bohème is a must!

24 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Luhrmann's first Bohème - classic performances that continue to thrill, June 23, 2006

By 

Cameo - See all my reviews

This review is from: Giacomo Puccini - La Bohème / Barker, Hobson, Luhrmann (DVD)

This DVD of the legendary production of La Boheme, directed by a young Baz Luhrmann, was beautifully filmed in February 1993 by Geoffrey Nottage and is more like a musical drama than an opera, which is not surprising since Nottage was a leading TV drama director. Editing out the applause during the Acts also allowed the action to flow uninterrupted and greatly enhanced the dramatic effect.

Luhrmann was inspired to update Puccini's opera from early 19th to mid 20th Century Paris - a move that worked surprisingly well - and for the six principal roles used the best young artists available in the Company at the time. They were chosen for their ability as singer/actors and not - as has often been suggested by critics - for their good looks, which was a bonus. It was claimed that the reason they worked so well together was because they were all friends offstage as well as on, and it showed. Roger and David Lemke, and David Hobson (Rodolfo) grew up together in the Victorian provincial city of Ballarat, and Cheryl Barker (Mimi) was from not-far-distant Geelong, Christine Douglas (Musetta) was another Victorian, while everyone had worked with the Victoria State Opera. Hobson and Barker had sung Rodolfo and Mimi in a VSO country tour of Boheme in 1987, so were old hands in the roles when the new updated version was premiered by The Australian Opera in Sydney, July 1990. This would explain the so-called chemistry between the two and why, when Rodolfo and Mimi were carrying on romantically at the side of the group during Musetta's 'Quando me'n vo' in Act II, Hobson pulled a very unromantic face at Barker, before turning with a look of total innocence to join in the next part of the ensemble. And how many Mimis would urge their Rodolfo forward for a solo curtain-call with the words "Go on mate!"? (Come to think of it, how many Rodolfos would have to be urged to take a bow?)
Of the other young artists in the cast, David Lemke as Schaunard was a real scene-stealer for me, and I sometimes found myself watching him rather than the main characters. This tall young man, with his usually brown hair blonded for the role - probably to make him look less like his brother Roger (Marcello) - has a fine smooth baritone which I personally found more pleasing than his brother's darker voice.
Any scene involving the four young men in their lighter moments is delightful but I particularly enjoyed Act II, even where things nearly got out of hand during the final ensemble when Barker accidently knocked over a glass and there seemed to be some sort of private joke between Roger Lemke and Hobson (again). On the other hand, the skylarking in Act IV is affected for me by the knowledge that everything is about to plunge into stark tragedy.

Much has been written about the outstanding performance of David Hobson as Rodolfo, but what is probably not well-known overseas is that he is a high lyric tenor (actually a rare haute-contre) whose voice is best suited to the Mozart, Rossini and baroque/bel canto repertoire, so was courting vocal disaster singing a spinto tenor's role. That he managed to do it so well - but at the very limit of his voice-type - is a tribute to his artistry, although it's hard to listen to his big arias without fearing for that beautiful voice. However, he obviously avoided any lasting vocal harm because just six months after the 1993 Boheme season - with a light Offenbach role between - he sang his finest (and favourite) role of Orphee in Gluck's Orphee et Eurydice, a tenor tour de force but still kinder to the voice than Puccini! Just what a strain it was for him singing Rodolfo was demonstrated when, night after night, the young poet's tears for his dead Mimi became - after the end of the opera - the uncontrollable sobbing of a young singer at the end of his emotional and physical tether. Hobson said that after a performance he was 'wrecked', "because you can't just sing the words!" Before I saw the original VHS version, I'd listened to the performance highlights CD and was stunned by this highly dramatic conclusion of sobbing with the all too audible English words "I can't ... help me!", before the audience recovered sufficiently to begin their ovation. I'm afraid it took me more than a few minutes to recover, and it's usually impossible to watch the final scenes with dry eyes, even now.

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Does this customer recommend this video? Decidedly so., February 24, 2000

By 

[e-mail] (VA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Puccini - La Boheme / Baz Luhrmann, The Australian Opera [VHS] (VHS Tape)

With its gloriously tuneful music and easy-to-follow story, "La Boheme" is widely considered to be the perfect choice for a first-timer's exposure to opera. This finely-detailed Austrailian Opera production should satisfy operatic newcomers and cognitive fans alike. Uniquely conceived and dazzlingly executed, it is both visually and aurally compelling. Though presented upon the standard large scale, this Boheme also cleverly manages to create a sublimely intimate ambiance. And of no small note: the ebullient staging, orchestra, and voices & characterizations magically (and refreshingly) meld into a single storytelling entity, breathing uncommon vibrancy into this musical masterwork and rendering the full dramatic impact which Boheme inherently commands but seldom receives. While the entire Company is to be wildly applauded for its superbly realized accomplishment, and with high regard and appreciation for each principal singer's work, special mention must be made of tenor David Hobson (Rodolfo), an electrifying young artist of rare quality. Thrilling sound, intuitively sensitive musicianship, and power to spare, all herein devoted to a brilliant character portrayal. This outstanding talent deserves the international operatic community's recognition and respect for what it is: Top-Drawer. And the Austrailian Opera Company deserves more of the world's recognition and respect for having brought us this beguiling wonderment of a production. Yeah!