Puccini - La Bohème / Hendricks, Carreras, Quilico, Blasi, Cowan, Ellero D'Artegna; Conlon (1987 film)

On this CD:

1. La bohème, opera
Composed by Giacomo Puccini
Performed by Orchestre National de France with Angela Maria Blasi, Jose Carreras, Richard Cowan, Federico Davia, Barbara Hendricks
Conducted by James Conlon

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com essential recording
This ranks among the best recordings of La Bohème (a very crowded category) and is particularly important for José Carreras fans as one of the last recordings he made in the 1970s, before leukemia threatened his life and undermined his voice. He and Katia Ricciarelli always worked well together, and the long, ecstatic duet that ends act 1 is a perfect showcase for their voices and their emotional involvement in the music. Carreras is also effective in the heartbreaking acts 3 and 4, and Ingvar Wixell is at his rare best as the painter Rodolfo. --Joe McLellan --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

Puccini - La Bohème / Hendricks, Carreras, Quilico, Blasi, Cowan, Ellero D'Artegna; Conlon (1987 film), Music, Giacomo Puccini, James Conlon, Barbara Hendricks, José Carreras, Gino Quilico, Angela Maria Blasi, Richard Cowan, Francesco Ellero D'Artegna, Federico Davia, Michel Sénéchal, Orchestre National de France, Classical, Classical Music, Italian Romantic Opera, Opera, Opera / Operetta / Oratorio, Opera/Operetta

Puccini - La Bohème / Hendricks, Carreras, Quilico, Blasi, Cowan, Ellero D'Artegna; Conlon (1987 film)
Average customer rating:

A surprising masterwork

Carreras's Rodolfo.

Perhaps the most lyrical Boheme on records

The ultimate La Bohème

Danger! Wrong Recording Being Reviewed!

Puccini - La Bohème / Hendricks, Carreras, Quilico, Blasi, Cowan, Ellero D'Artegna; Conlon (1987 film)

Manufacturer: Elektra / Wea
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Verdi: Rigoletto / Rudel, Carreras, Wise, Quilico, et al

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Puccini: Manon Lescaut

Giordano - Andrea Chenier / Jose Carreras, Eva Marton, Piero Cappuccilli, Silvana Mazzieri, Riccardo Chailly, La Scala Opera

ASIN: B000005E6C
Release Date: 1991-06-25

Tracks:

La Boheme: Act I: Questo Mar Rosso (Marcello, Rodolfo)
La Boheme: Act I: Gia dell'Apocalisse (Colline, Marcello, Rodolfo)
La Boheme: Act I: Legna! Sigari! BordRudolfo, Marcello, Colline, Schaunard)
La Boheme: Act I: Si puo? Chi (Benoit, Rodolfo, Marcello, Colline, Schaunard)
La Boheme: Act I: Timido in gioventnoit, Rodolfo, Marcello, Colline, Schaunard)
La Boheme: Act I: Al Quartiere Latin (Schaunard, Marcello, Colline, Rudolfo)
La Boheme: Act I: Non sono in vena (Rudolfo, Mimi)
La Boheme: Act I: Oh! Sventata, sventata! (Mimi, Rodolfo)
La Boheme: Act I: Che gelida manina! (Rodolfo)
La Boheme: Act I: Si, Mi chiamano Mimi (Mimi)
La Boheme: Act I: O soave fanciulla (Rodolfo, Mimi)
La Boheme: Act II: Al Quartiere Latin (Chor)
La Boheme: Act II: Falso questo Re! (Schaunard, Colline, Rodolfo, Mimi)
La Boheme: Act II: Due posti (Rodolfo, Marcello, Schaunard, Colline)
La Boheme: Act II: Signorina Mimi, che dono raro (Marcello, Mimi)
La Boheme: Act II: Ch'io beva del tossico (Marcello, Musetta, Alcindoro)
La Boheme: Act II: Quando me'n vo soletta (Musetta)
La Boheme: Act II: Marcello un di l'ameptuor)
La Boheme: Act II: Qual dolore, qual bruciore! (Septuor)
La Boheme: Act II: La Ritirata (Chor)

Tracks:

La Boheme: Act III: La Barriere d'Enfer
La Boheme: Act III: Mimi? Speravo...(Marcello, Mimi)
La Boheme: Act III: Marcello, Finalmente (Rodolfo, Marcello)
La Boheme: Act III: Ebbene, no. No lo son (Rodolfo, Mimi, Marcello)
La Boheme: Act III: Addio (Mimi)
La Boheme: Act III: Dunque roprio finita (Rodolfo, Mimi)
La Boheme: Act III: Que facevi? Que dicevi? (Quatuor)
La Boheme: Act IV: In un coup(Marcello, Rodolfo)
La Boheme: Act IV: O Mimi, tu pi torno (Rodolfo, Marcello, Schaunard, Colline)
La Boheme: Act IV: E Schaunard non torna (Rodolfo, Marcello, Schaunard, Colline)
La Boheme: Act IV: Azione coreografica allora? (Schaunard, Colline, Marcello, Rodolfo)
La Boheme: Act IV: C'imi! c'imi! (Musetta, Mimi, Rodolfo)
La Boheme: Act IV: Ho tando freddo (Mimi, Rodolfo)
La Boheme: Act IV: Vecchia zimarra, senti (Colline)
La Boheme: Act IV: Sono andanti? (Mimi, Rodolfo)
La Boheme: Act IV: Che avvien (Schaunard, Mimi, Rodolfo, Musetta)
La Boheme: Act IV: Madonna, benedetta (Musetta, Rodolfo, Marcello)

Amazon.com essential recording

This ranks among the best recordings of La Bohème (a very crowded category) and is particularly important for José Carreras fans as one of the last recordings he made in the 1970s, before leukemia threatened his life and undermined his voice. He and Katia Ricciarelli always worked well together, and the long, ecstatic duet that ends act 1 is a perfect showcase for their voices and their emotional involvement in the music. Carreras is also effective in the heartbreaking acts 3 and 4, and Ingvar Wixell is at his rare best as the painter Rodolfo. --Joe McLellan

Customer Reviews:

A surprising masterwork.......2007-07-11

José Carreras has rarely sounded so virile and sensuously alive as he does here as the tempestuous poet Rodolfo. The Spanish tenor gave mixed performances in Puccini roles; he failed, for the most part, with Calaf, but he excels here as ably as he outclassed every other performance of B.F. Pinkerton in Giuseppe Sinopoli's recording of Madama Butterfly with Mirella Freni. Only Pavarotti has produced a more heroically Parnassian sound during "Che gelida manina."

Katia Ricciarelli is radiant as Mimì and her characteristically tiny voice aids her significantly in the presentation of such a delicate and friable spirit. She is irresistibly exquisite with "Sì, mi chiamano Mimì" and her gentle, lachrymose Act III farewell ("Donde lieta uscì") is worthy of Tebaldi and Freni. Carreras and Ricciarelli's ethereal duet in Act I ("O soave fanciulla") is capped by stirring, almost angelic high notes, and they are genuinely heartrending in the mortal finale of Act IV ("Sono andati?"..."Oh Dio! Mimì!"). Chemistry abounds!

Ingvar Wixell is at his best as Marcello; that, in itself, is a rare occurrence. That, in turn, is a pity, for his performance as the heartbroken, lovesick painter is commendable. The venerable Robert Lloyd provides a philosophically robust Colline in spite of the fact that his voice is in no way Italianate. His rendition of "Vecchia zimarra, senti" has the distinct twinge of Vaughn Williams. Håkan Hagegård is a lyrically memorable Schaunard; it is refreshing to hear a voice so diligently devoted to detail in a role usually filled by a poorly talented character baritone.

Ashley Putnam is hardly as endearing as Elizabeth Harwood on the Karajan recording (or Gianna d'Angelo on the 1959 Tullio Serafin masterwork with Renata Tebaldi and Carlo Bergonzi), but she is tolerably chirpy and syrupy as Musetta during her tantalizing, instantly recognizable waltz ("Quando me'n vo'").

Sir Colin Davis, an illustrious conductor who strayed too far into the dreamily mundane world of Hector Berlioz, should have made more Puccinian recordings. His reading of the sumptuously melodic and overpoweringly Romantic score falls somewhere twixt Serafin's and Karajan's; it possesses enough fidelity to the score to search out the intricate melodies (the early portions of the first two acts, for example), but it also never fails to erupt into glorious, orchestral gales just as the right moments (such as the bombastic finale of Act II or the pastel-hued, bereaved dawn in the finale of Act IV).

Carreras's Rodolfo........2007-06-14

Frankly, La Boheme is never my favourite Puccini opera. One good thing, though - it is short and to the point. No complicated story line, or sub-plots. So the audience concentrates on the music, as so rarely does in operas.
In another starry set, Placido Domingo sang Rodolfo with Caballe. Domingo reputedly sang the 'original' version. However, for me, Rodolfo should be a lyrical tenor. Pavarotti and Domingo are all too stentorian for the role. Jose Carreras remains the ultimate Rodolfo among the Three. Like Don Jose in Carmen, Rodolfo is a tailor-made role for Carreras: he has the timbre, the style, the temperament. Rodolfo is a poet; not a shephard boy.
If the Mimi here was stronger casted, the set would have got a sure 5 star.

Perhaps the most lyrical Boheme on records.......2005-09-24

My heart has softened towards this underdog La Boheme, which has almost nothing Italiante going for it except the presence of Katia Ricciarelli as Mimi. We get a Spanish Rodolfo, Swedish Marcello, English Musetta, and antoerh Swede as Schaunard--all under the direciton of an Englishman. Yet this is more than just an average polyglot night att covent Garden. Carreras and Riciarelli make a touching pair of lovers who really seem to be looking into each other's eyes while singing, and both are caught in absolute best voice.

Davis frames them in a tender setting, creating an atmosphere faar more intimate than the famous Karajan recording with Pavarotti and Freni (Decca). Great as that set is, there's room for this one, too. I'd be tempted to give it five stars except that Ingvar Wixell, an absolute meance on Davis's Don giovanni and Marriage of Figaro (how did this gruff baritone every have a major career?) is only a passable Marcello, and Ashley Putnam's Musetta lacks vibrancy. Even so, the performance as a whole is thoroughly enjoyable.

The ultimate La Bohème.......2005-06-20

First of all I have to make clear that this review is of the Bohème-recording from 1979 featuring Carreras/Ricciarelli and the supporting cast of Wixell/Hagegard/Lloyd/Putnam. So if it appears anywhere else it's due to a mix-up at Amazon. I honestly can't think of a better recording of La Bohème. In my opinion the whole cast is doing a superb job here. Carreras in his early thirties is the ultimate Rodolfo, it's almost like the role was created for him personally. His voice is like velvet on your senses and to me he is irresistible. He sings passionate and like always he is able to perfectly communicate all the different moods of his character to the listener in a way that makes your spine tingle.... No one surpasses Carreras when it comes to expressing honest and heartfelt emotion. Just listen to his "che gelida manina" or "Mimi e tanto malata". In the duets with Ricciarelli/Mimi it's quite obvious that he is very much in love with her, but you can also hear that he is concerned because she is very ill.

Ricciarellis Mimi is equally beautiful. Ricciarelli possessed one of the loveliest voices in the 70s and 80s. It's a real treat to hear her sing - so soft and "floating", it feels like the music could go on forever....And she's a perfect fit for Carreras. You can't help but falling in love with Rodolfo and Mimi.

Having listened to some really bad Musettas in the past I find Ashley Putnams' performance to be very convincing. The three other Bohèmians; Marcello, Schaunard and Colline are beautifully portrayed by Ingvar Wixell, Hakan Hagegard and Robert Lloyd. It sounds like they really enjoyed themselves when recording this opera.

Act one when Mimi and Rodolfo meets is like reliving the time when you first fell in love and their break-up in act three makes you devastated. And by the end of act four when Mimi dies and the crushed Rodolfo is crying "Mimi... Mimi....." you're really sobbing. (How someone can manage to put so much feeling into just one word is a mystery to me.) So this opera should definitely be sold with lots of hankies to go with it....

I probably shouldn't be saying this, but..... I also own a recording of La Bohème featuring Tebaldi,Bergonzi and Bastiannini and they fail to evoke my emotions like Carreras/Ricciarelli does.

In my opinion this is the Bohème to own and it's no problem buying the Philips duo-version. It comes without the libretto, but La Bohême is one of the very few operas where you can find the libretto with English translation on the internet. So - buy the cd, sit back and ENJOY.

Danger! Wrong Recording Being Reviewed!.......2003-07-01

Careful music fans! ... The Boheme recording being reviewed here is SUPPOSED to be Carreras and Hendricks conducted by James Conlin and recorded in 1988, but nearly all of the "reviewers" ...are describing a recording featuring Carreras and RICCIARELLI which I believe was made in 1979 and conducted by Sir Colin Davis. I have the Carreras/Hendricks recording (a movie soundtrack as one reviewer correctly stated) and think it's just great.