One
of the most popular operas in the repertoire,
La Boheme has
been very fortunate on record. All the great divas of the
second half of the twentieth century have set down their
interpretations of Mimi at least once. Likewise all the
great tenors of the period recorded Rodolfo. Gigli’s interpretation
can be heard on Naxos and also Tebaldi’s first, ethereal,
Mimi on Decca. Competitors were blown out of the water
by the last minute 1956 New York recording with Jussi Björling
and Victoria los Angeles conducted by Beecham (EMI). Although
only recorded in mono this set overshadowed later stereo
rivals of considerable merit such as Decca’s 1959 re-make
with Tebaldi as Mimi. There, Bergonzi is a match for Björling
in terms of elegance and tonal beauty as Rodolfo. In the
1960s both RCA, who had a stake in the Beecham recording,
and EMI, made stereo versions that made few waves. Decca,
keen to get Karajan back in their studios for a recorded
opera, set him up with his Berlin Phil and their star young
tenor, Pavarotti, for a recording of the opera made in
Berlin in October 1972. The performance tempi and portamento
owe as much to the conductor as to the composer, but with
Mirella Freni a magical Mimi and a good all-round cast
in a technically superb recording it remains a firm favourite
of mine. This 1972 recording has recently been reissued
in 96kHz-24-bit remastered sound to celebrate the 150
th anniversary
of Puccini. My colleague in
his
review of the reissue also surveyed the best of the
many
La Bohemes on record and suggested that this
was not only high in the rankings of the opera itself,
but one of the greatest opera recordings of all time. It
is a sentiment I share. Any
La Boheme I listen to
on record is measured against it.
Having
set the parameters for my comparison, I must remember I
am not reviewing the complete set from which these extracts
are taken. That has already been done by a second colleague
who also compared other performances on record (see
review)
whilst coming to the view that this latest recording justified
its place in the pantheon.
The
extracts start with Mimi’s arrival at Rodolfo’s garret
(tr.1). Their tentative ‘getting to know you’ is nicely
sung and well represented in the orchestra as rising emotion
and young blood flows. This leads into that wonderful sequence
of Puccini’s musical creativity that starts with
Che
gelida manina (tr.2), as Rodolfo feels Mimi’s cold
hands and tells her about himself. This followed by her
reciprocal
Si, Mi chiamano Mimi (tr.3) and their
love duet
O soave Fanciulla (tr.4). In
Che gelida
manina and throughout this performance and in so many
of his performances, Villazon always seems to be at full
throttle vocally. His tonal beauty is to be admired here,
as is his phrasing. But when the pressure is on, there
is nowhere else for his voice to go and he pushes his tone.
He sounds as if he is singing
at, not
to,
Mimi. Villazon does, however, finish the aria on a soft
descending note of beauty and sings more softly in Rodolfo’s
duet with the rather gruff and four-square Masetto of Boaz
Daniel (tr.8). It was not long after this performance that
Villazon withdrew from public performance for vocal recuperation.
I hope his rest and rethink has been beneficial, his stage
and vocal acting are rare virtues among tenors on the world
stage as Domingo approaches the end of a long career.
Anna
Netrebko’s
Si, Mi chiamano Mimi is not as gently
and affecting in tone and phrasing as I expect of Mimi,
a young, shy, virgin. In the opening she tends to over-sing
using too much voice for my taste. In the second part of
the aria she justifiably opens out. In this aria, and Mimi’s
act 3
D’onde lieta usci, Netrebko
has moments of great tonal and expressive beauty far too
often marred by rather indistinct diction and poor endings to the Italian words. These
are both areas where Freni and Tebaldi, native Italians,
score in their versions. Netrebko
is far better in the second part of
Si, Mi chiamano Mimi where she caresses the phrases nicely. In the love duet itself there
is too much vocal competition between soprano and tenor
rather than affection or expectation. Yes, Puccini’s chording
is complex, but they do not need to sing over it.
The extract
La
commedia …Quando men vo (tr.5) includes Nicole
Cabell’s singing of Musetta’s
Waltz song. She sings
this party-piece with conviction and good colour. There
is plenty of flighty characterisation though somewhat marred
by indifferent diction and a touch of shrillness at the
top of the voice. Of the others, I was impressed by Vitalij
Kowaljow’s farewell to his coat (tr.9). In the finale,
Villazon’s reaction to Mimi’s passing, left me dry-eyed,
not a state this old irascible critic can guarantee from
a good theatre performance even by voices far inferior
to those here.
I was brought
up on the edict that if you were going to do a job, do it
properly. Well, I do not consider fifty-four minutes worth
of Puccini’s superb score is a proper job. There is much
more music that could and should be present, some of which
could have highlighted Bertrand de Billy’s
idiomatic contribution to the proceedings. Likewise
the accompanying booklet is also short measure being all
arty presentation and little function into the bargain; in
fact not a bargain at all - this is full
price! The opening page of the booklet shows a well dressed
and
extravagantly
made-up and dressed Netrebko, looking like a vogue model,
at a table with Villazon who is looking a right scruff with
designer stubble and no tie. Elsewhere, amid the photos of
a staging, it was a concert performance not a staging that
is recorded here it should be noted, there is a track-listing
and a track-related synopsis, the latter in English, German
and French.
I cannot always
be bothered to listen through all the student frolics at
the start of act one of
La Boheme. Despite owning
the complete version, I often listen to highlights of the
Karajan recording with Freni and Pavarotti for pure pleasure.
I regret to say that the Decca disc runs to only sixty minutes
(Decca 421 425-2). My colleague finds the complete recording
more convincing and a justifiable addition to the catalogue.
On the basis of what I hear on the present DG disc I do not
share his enthusiasm.
Robert J Farr