La Bohème
(1896) was Puccini’s fourth opera and
his first great success. In fact "great"
is not a strong enough word, since it
went straight to the top of the popularity
list and has remained there ever since.
The reason is not difficult to see.
The story about the four Bohemians in
Paris and more specifically the love
story between Rodolfo and Mimi goes
directly to the heart. And so, in a
secondary place, does the one between
Marcello and Musetta. The sharp contrasts
between the light-hearted artists’ lives
and the pangs of love and finally the
tragedy with Mimi’s death is like life
itself. But of course it is Puccini’s
music that makes it so unforgettable.
To many people the famous scene between
Rodolfo and Mimi that ends act I, culminating
in the duet O soave fanciulla
epitomizes opera as a phenomenon.
In a way a highlights
disc of La Bohème is an
impossibility, since the whole opera
is one long highlight, but Warner have
here done the best of this impossible
task by choosing long sections from
each act, so even if there are, in total,
17 tracks, what we have here is the
final pages from each of the four acts.
Between them they include almost all
the most well-known "pieces".
The only missing items are the tenor-baritone
duet O Mimi tu più non torni
that opens the last act and Colline’s
"Coat aria" from the same
act. Since the total playing time of
the disc is less than 50 minutes they
could very well have been included.
Actually the full act could have been
included, thus making the disc an even
better proposition. Apart from that
I can only applaud the concept, since
the problem with highlights discs is
that as soon as you are beginning to
get involved a set-piece is finished
(or even worse, faded out) and then
we jump to the next piece. Here we get
enough time to feel the atmosphere and
follow the action, the development of
the characters.
As for the recording,
this is the soundtrack for a film, made
in the late 1980s. It coincided in time
with José Carreras falling ill
with a serious blood disease, from which
he fortunately recovered and was able
to resume his career. But he was not
able to take part in the actual filming
and there was a lot of publicity back
in the 1980s when the young tenor Luca
Canonici stepped in at very short notice
(a matter of a few hours) and acted
the part of Rodolfo, and so getting
an auspicious start to his own career,
without singing one single note. He
was quite a good singer in his own right
and I bought his recital disc (on Erato)
which was issued not long after this.
He had a light lyrical voice hitting
even the repeated high Ds in Tonio’s
aria from The Daughter of the Regiment
with ease. I saw the film and thought
he was a good-looking and very able
actor and at the time that I would have
preferred him to sing the part too,
since Carreras at this stage in his
career was strained, loud and unsubtle.
The re-acquaintance with the soundtrack
was more positive than I had expected.
Yes, Carreras is strained and
his highest notes are mostly shouted
with that widening vibrato that is pretty
close to a wobble, but he can be subtle
too: he fines down his voice to the
softest of pianissimos, sometimes close
to a Bing Crosby croon. His well-known
intensity and projection of the text
make this a touching interpretation
of the part. In fact, when I went back
to his Philips recording of La Bohème
with Colin Davis, made almost ten years
earlier when he was just past 30, he
sounds almost as strained although with
a more even voice production. In the
end of the love duet he doesn’t follow
Mimi up to the high note but goes down
instead, ending on an exquisite soft
note in half voice, just as it should
be but all too seldom is. Full marks
for that!
The Mimi is Barbara
Hendricks and to me hers is not a Mimi-voice
at all, rather a Musetta with her glittering
top notes. But her portrayal of the
tuberculous seamstress is surprisingly
successful. She is in exceptionally
fine voice and sings with considerable
feeling. Mimi’s first act aria is delivered
in long phrases, much of it in piano
and pianissimo but when she opens up
at the climaxes she is impressively
powerful. We also get her third act
aria, Donde lieta usci, although
the track listing doesn’t say so. But
track 12 starts with Rodolfo singing
Che! Vai? ("What! Going?")
as a response to Mimi’s Addio!
and then follows the aria, starting
with the words "To the home that
she left ..." And this aria is
also very well executed. At the modest
price this disc is worth acquiring for
Miss Hendricks’s contribution alone.
She may not be in the same league as
the late Victoria de los Angeles or
Renata Tebaldi, to my mind the two greatest
Mimis on disc, but still definitely
admirable. The other soprano, Angela
Maria Blasi, who actually has a Mimi-voice,
sings a good although not exceptional
waltz-aria in the second act. The fourth
main character, Gino Quilico, has a
good baritone voice, used to good, maybe
a little anonymous, effect in the third
act dialogue with Rodolfo, but bereft
of the fourth act duet he doesn’t get
much opportunity to make his mark.
James Conlon leads
his French forces in a middle-of-the-road
performance. There is a booklet with
a short synopsis and some comments.
As I have indicated there are better
versions to be had, and I definitely
recommend first time buyers to get a
complete La Bohème,
(Beecham with de los Angeles and
Björling, and Serafin with Tebaldi
and Bergonzi are both available at mid-price)
but as a complement for comparison,
which is always fascinating, this one
is a better way of spending a fiver
than I would have thought, especially
for Barbara Hendricks’ contribution.
A pity that Warner didn’t give us another
30 minutes of music when the space was
available.
Göran Forsling
Barbara Hendricks, sop (Mimi), José Carreras,
ten (Rodolfo), Gino Quilico, bar (Marcello), Angela
Maria Blasi, sop (Musetta), Richard Cowan, bass-bar
(Schaunard), Federico Davià, bass (Alcindoro),
Francesco Ellero d’Artegna, bass (Colline) 
