Marvelous package for opera lovers
La Boheme, Royal Opera House production
Opus Arte Blu-ray Disc
Puccini's La Boheme is one of the most beloved operas of all time, and rightfully so. As one would expect, therefore, there already are many fine performances of Boheme available on DVD including, for example, the 2003 La Scala performance with Marcelo Alvarez and Cristina Gallardo-Domas, and the older, but still impressive, 1967 La Scala performance with a young Mirella Freni and Gianni Raimondi. In my opinion, however, this new Blu-ray DVD of a 2009 Royal Opera House performance, starring Russian soprano Hibla Gerzmava as Mimi and Rumanian tenor Teodor Ilincai as Rodolfo, deserves to go to the top of the list. Here's my rationale:
First; the mostly youthful cast brings a joie de vivre to their performances that is very appropriate and that compliments both the music and the Bohemian characters they are portraying. And equally important: they all sing beautifully! (It should be noted that...
surprise tears for this opera novice
I got this for my parents as an accompanying gift to the blu-ray player I was getting them for Christmas. I am not an opera expert -- but it was one of the only live productions on blu-ray, well-reviewed and some youtube searches of the leads checked out... so it felt like a no-brainer.
No surprise, the opera-loving parents loved it. Sound and picture-quality is crisp and full (looks beautiful on a big screen), the leads breathe life into the roles and sing BEAUTIFULLY, the production value is impressive, lots of goosebumps throughout -- but what I wasn't expecting was crying like freakin Julia Roberts at the opera in Pretty Woman during Rodolfo's aria to Mimi -- it was so darn pretty! For such a famous piece, it was like i was hearing it for the first time, like i finally "got" it. Ilinca as Rodolfo is dreamy, genuine, tender and passionate. It was the first time i watched a full opera and now i'm kinda hungry for more!
Opera experts, by all means make your...
Sumptuous and Glorious
I'll cut right to the chase here: The "unsung" (no pun intended) hero of this performance is the conductor, Andris Nelsons. Based on this performance, I rate him as the greatest conductor of Puccini that I have ever heard. (!!) He's that great. Most opera lovers (such as myself) would probably not rate Puccini on a par with Verdi or Wagner, but Nelsons shows no signs of such thinking here. In the Extras he describes this opera as a masterpiece and he conducts it with a love appropriate to that assessment: spirited where needed, limpid where needed, and always letting the music "breathe"; plus always being sensitive to his singers--they must love singing for him--; a "singers' conductor". You owe it to yourself to buy this dvd for Nelsons alone. You and I would say that the first love in this opera is between Rodolfo and Mimi and second love is between Marcello and Musetta, but in this performance the first love is between Nelsons and Puccini's music. Should you think I may be...
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