La Boheme

La Bohème is probably the most underestimated recording in the Callas catalogue. It is probably the most unlistened of her recordings as well. This is absurd, as in many ways, this is the most believable, moving, best sung Bohème in the catalogue. There are perhaps three great recordings of Bohème: this one, Beecham with de los Angeles and Bjoerling, and Karajan with Freni and Pavarotti. Of these three, two are in mono; Karajan is in stereo. All three are very different, Beecham and Karajan having more in common with each other than with efficient Mr. Votto. Beecham's was almost a lark, with a pick-up orchestra, golden voices perfect for their roles available in New York at the same time as he, so why not record Bohème? So was born an epochal recording, slow, lyrical, designed to show the vocal treasures at hand and the sweet, pitiful characters in the score. Karajan's consists of gorgeous Puccini for the orchestral glories of the Berlin Philharmonic during his peak years, with the best Mimi and Rodolfo of his day. Humble Mr. Votto gives us a Bohème that makes one cry. The tragedy of the bohemians in their garret, their poverty, their illusions, their loves, their hopes are all there from the first note. Callas never sang the rôle on stage.....one would never guess it. Mi chiamano Mimi is exactly what it is to be, an almost formal self-introduction to Rodolfo, but when April comes, one hears her spirit shine, romantic, pure, glowing, all through the amazing coloring Callas brings to her voice. Giuseppe di Stefano is a Rodolfo, boastful, romantic, the frustrated poet who wishes he had money and probably were better, all through the voice, and di Stefano is ideal for the part, and is at his peak of vocal splendor, and so on to Rolando Panerai and Anna Moffo as Mussetta. The final two acts break one's heart. It is deeply lived tragedy, always through the music. There probably is no better Bohème recording. Get all three. But if you are to have only one, there is no greater one than Callas, di Stefano, Votto. Much is made of Toscanini having conducted the premiére: there isn't much romance or drama to his recording, there is speed, and the singing is never more than efficient..... Albanese sounds much better in her first recording from Italy with Gigli. As to Tebaldi, her first Decca recording shows her voice in much better shape, and it was a gorgeous instrument in its prime. But otherwise, it is just a gorgeous voice nicely used. Do not let this Remastered La Bohème pass you by.

DeStefano and Callas at their peak. Heartbreakingly beautiful and possibly the best ever in great sound

This is a very lively, heartfelt recording. DiStefano sings with energy, and the variety of tone color Callas achieves is astonishing. Moffo's Musetta made me wish I had more of her recordings. There are prettier versions that are easier on the ear, but this one made me cry.

I like the recording a lot I am a Callas fan

awesome

Outstanding!

I am not a big Callas fan, for all the standard reasons which we don't need to get into here ... I will only state, she so often stands there and just belts it out pointlessly, reminding me of Mario Lanza, except that he has a rich tone rather than a harsh one. (Not that I am a fan of Mario Lanza, I definitely am not.)Callas excells in relatively quiet roles which is why I do enjoy her in for example La Traviata. It never occurred to me to try her Boheme, another mostly quiet role, but I happened upon a pristine original LP and it was indeed a revelation.I would never have expected Callas to jump to one of my very favorite Bohemes, second only to perhaps Licia Albanese with Toscanini. In fact it is one of the only opera recordings that have ever made me cry ... I am not a crier! I certainly hope the CD is a good remastering of what I heard on LP--it is a true desert island performance!

An outstanding achievement from Callas. No one does what she does with this music. The Warner remastering under review, however, is bass-heavy, and though the voices are very similar to their sound on LP, the overwhelming bass ruins the intimacy of this most intimate opera. EMI's earlier version (NOT the horrible 1997 Callas Edition), EMI Classics 47475 in its 1993 US pressing, seems to be the best (the older 1987 'EMI/Angel' pressing with the same catalog no., apparently from the same masters, is oddly muddy).

Maria Callas is overleden in 1977 dus ver voor het DDD tijdperk en in een tijd dat elke toon muziek nog analoog werd opgenomen. Voor de perfectionisten met oren uit de 21e eeuw geldt mijn advies: begin er niet aan! Voor ieder die deze muziek puur beluistert zoals hij is en zich verplaatst naar de tijd waarin het materiaal is opgenomen is dit een absolute must!

For many years, I’ve searched for the definitive version of Puccini’s opera La Boheme on disc. Sadly, there probably isn’t one. Recently, I decided to reject the advice of the critics and purchased this remastered recording of La Boheme with Maria Callas and Giuseppe di Stefano, instead of the recommended version featuring Victoria de Los Angeles and Jussi Bjorling. Of course, I’d have preferred Bjorling in the role of Rodolfo, but I bought this 2 CD set for Callas’ performance and was so pleased I did. The orchestral playing is magnificent too!

È il primo disco che ascolto dopo la famosa rimasterizzazione della Warner. Si tratta della Boheme di Puccini con l'Orchestra alla Scala di Milano. L'opera non presenta solo la Callas in un deserto ma stavolta anche i comprimari sono all'altezza. Due parole per la registrazione: com'è possibile che c'è tutta questa differenza fra la Decca e la EMI? Prendiamo il Ring di Solti, alcuni dischi sono del 55 e provate ad ascoltare il cd. Pur essendo stati rimasterizzati non raggiungono la limpidezza dei sopracitati Decca; non sempre i Decca sono all'altezza ma nella media si, invece peccato perché molti artisti degli anni 50/60 dell'allora EMI sono stati penalizzate da registrazioni imbarazzanti. In questa collana la Callas si prende una piccola rivincita: la sua voce si sente meglio, solo quando l'orchestra è a pieno carico si nota qualche problema si dinamica ma con quella matrice obsoleta ci voleva un vero miracolo.

An excellent performance at a good price.No major names still alive, but all of them were great at the time.

Perfecta remasterizacion. Callas en estado puro lo mismo que dinStefano y la orquesta de la scala. Totalmente recomendable lo mismo que el resto de la colección.