BaL 15.02.25 - Puccini: La bohème

[Barbirollians]

Agreed. In addition to HvK/Pavarotti/Freni I only have Serafin/Tebaldi/Bergonzi, which will probably suffice unless I encounter the Beecham in a charity shop. I haven't heard Bohème in the opera house since the last outing of John Copley's classic ROH staging in 2012, was it ? Great cast headed by Joseph Calleja and Carmen Gianattasio.

Yes that was a great evening - went on the last Saturday .

The Richard Jones staging ( apart from its almost complete copy of Act 3 ) is not a patch on the old Copley.

[Ein Heldenleben]

Yes that was a great evening - went on the last Saturday .

The Richard Jones staging ( apart from its almost complete copy of Act 3 ) is not a patch on the old Copley.

You are so right . It’s just too lacking in any subtlety . I think I went to the final run of the old production with Calleja and Netrebko in 2015 . She sing the final act almost as one long diminuendo. The control she showed was extraordinary. I’ve only heard Georghiu sing it better.

[Barbirollians]

The best thing nowadays about BAL is being prompted to listen to what you already have . Heavens above Bjorling’s singing in Act 1 , de los Angeles showing Mimi’s fragility and such sensitive conducting from Beecham .

[Wolfram]

The best thing nowadays about BAL is being prompted to listen to what you already have . Heavens above Bjorling’s singing in Act 1 , de los Angeles showing Mimi’s fragility and such sensitive conducting from Beecham .

At the end of the day it doesn’t matter whether you choose Beecham, Serafin, Karajan, Pappano, or even Berrettoni - for Gigli and Albanese - you won’t be disappointed with any them.

Increasingly on these threads people are beginning to question the raison d’etre of BAL. Without wishing to raise the spectre of Interpretations on Record yet again, it’s simply that music isn’t a competitive sport.

[Barbirollians]

At the end of the day it doesn’t matter whether you choose Beecham, Serafin, Karajan, Pappano, or even Berrettoni - for Gigli and Albanese - you won’t be disappointed with any them.

Increasingly on these threads people are beginning to question the raison d’etre of BAL. Without wishing to raise the spectre of Interpretations on Record yet again, it’s simply that music isn’t a competitive sport.

I think you left out Callas /Votto ? Or was that deliberate ?

[Wolfram]

I think you left out Callas /Votto ? Or was that deliberate ?

No, it was deliberate I’m afraid. Despite Callas, and the excellent Panerai, I never warmed to this one as a whole, unlike the others.

[Wolfram]

No, it was deliberate I’m afraid. Despite Callas, and the excellent Panerai, I never warmed to this one as a whole, unlike the others.

Acts 3 and 4 are sensational though, so no complaints if it’s added to the list of indispensables.

[Master Jacques]

Of course there is no "best"; and that was always understood, in the days when Building a Library had a bit more cultural relevance, as well as more time and analysis. In a world where everyone can hear almost everything at the touch of a button the point's been lost.

So I bet that nobody on Record Review will mention my own personal favourite: they probably won't have even heard it, though in my opinion it is the best sung and conducted of the lot.

While visiting Moscow nearly a couple of decades ago, I noticed that there was one recording of Puccini's opera available everywhere. Not your Beecham, Karajan, Votto, Serafin or Berretoni. No. It was the 1954 Melodiya recording, conducted by Samuil Samosud, with Bolshoi forces, and of course it was in Russian (none of your "original language" mavens there, thank goodness.) I bought it more from curiosity than anything else.

What a revelation! The cast's to die for. Sergei Lemeshev and his then wife Irina Maslennikova are the perfect Rudolfo and Mimi, their alchemy as a couple matching their lustrous tone and musicality in their big arias - these were two of the best voices in the world at the time. Pavel Lisitsian is fully their equal as a hyper-masculine yet subtly neurotic Marcello, and the rest of the cast (with the exception of a Musetta whose light soprano may be too 'Slavic' for some listeners) are equally inside their roles, to a degree which only comes from working regularly together on stage, as of course they had.

Samosud's conducting, warmly romantic and rumbustiously comical by turns, conveys the full range of the score's wisdom and humanity, and the choral singing and orchestral playing are everything you'd expect from Moscow's showcase ensemble of the period. If I want to listen to La bohème these days, this is the one I cherish. It's actually not that hard to find, in Aquarius's clean and clear recent transfer; and anyone who isn't a dyed-in-the-wool original-languager will enjoy it greatly, I'm sure.

[vinteuil]

.... of course it was in Russian (none of your "original language"... ) anyone who isn't a dyed-in-the-wool original-languager will enjoy it greatly, I'm sure.

... not sure my Russian is good enuff, but thank you for your embrace of other languages

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[Master Jacques]

... not sure my Russian is good enuff, but thank you for your embrace of other language.

If you have got to know the opera through English performances, as Puccini would have wanted us Britishers to (and as I did), that makes it pleasantly easy to follow in other languages, even Italian. You have unintentionally slightly distorted what I said: ("none of your "original language" mavens there"), which makes rather a difference, and is a statement of fact for opera in Moscow, not my personal opinion.

[vinteuil]

If you have got to know the opera through English performances, as Puccini would have wanted us Britishers to (and as I did), that makes it pleasantly easy to follow in other languages, even Italian.

... well, my Italian is a lot better than my Russian, so I think I'll stick with that for the moment