Puccini: La Bohème

Afro Poli (Performer), Aristide Baracchi (Performer), Carlo Scattola (Performer), Duilio Baronti (Performer), Giacomo Puccini (Composer), Umberto Berrettoni (Conductor), La Scala Theater Orchestra (Orchestra), La Scala Theater Orchestra & Chorus (Orchestra, Performer), Licia Albanese (Performer), Tatiana Menotti (Performer), Beniamino Gigli (Performer), Nello Palai (Performer)

Product Details

• Performer: Afro Poli, Aristide Baracchi, Carlo Scattola, Duilio Baronti, La Scala Theater Orchestra & Chorus, et al.
• Orchestra: La Scala Theater Orchestra, La Scala Theater Orchestra & Chorus
• Conductor: Umberto Berrettoni
• Composer: Giacomo Puccini
• Audio CD (December 6, 1994)
• SPARS Code: ADD
• Number of Discs: 2
• Label: Nimbus Records
• ASIN: B0000037KK
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #84,811 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
Though this recording only contains two singers widely remembered today--Licia Albanese and Beniamino Gigli--it captures much that's hard to find today. With all singers here, words are projected with great vitality. They come first, not the pretty tunes, and conductor Berrettoni is the model of flexibility, always allowing the verbal and musical gesture room to make its point while letting the singers show off a bit by holding notes a shade longer than modern conductors do. Albanese claims her later Mimis were more dramatically mature; this one could hardly be more fresh and vivid, even if she isn't so vocally lustrous. Gigli is simply a miracle: Vocal riches aside, he uses his voice to give as three-dimensional a portrayal as has ever been given to the oft-sung role of Rodolfo. Nimbus's packaging is sumptuous, but the sound quality a bit distant. --David Patrick Stearns

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars MY FAVORITE "LA BOHEME"!, December 23, 2004

By	C. H. Geary (Eureka, Ca. USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

There are more recorded "Bohemes" than one can count. But I always come back to this one. To me this is the most tender and moving performance that I've ever heard. Recorded in 1938 and I believe the first complete recording of this opera, the sound is not what today's listeners are use to, but if you can get past that you are in for a wonderful listening experience from the golden age of opera. Gigli's voice has a velvety sweetness that no other tenor can capture. And a very young Licia Albanese sings with such youth and innocence that she just breaks your heart. The whole cast sings with great feeling and they sound as though they are really enjoying themselves. There are a few ad-libs and exchanges among the singers that some purests have found annoying, But I find them charming and makes the characters seem more real to me.. I LOVE THIS RECORDING!!!