Puccini: La Bohème

“Any frisson between the lovers is supplied by Rolando Villazón's impassioned, impulsive, gloriously sung Rodolfo. Fellow Bohemians Marcello and Schaunard are lively and quick-witted, though Colline tends to wobble in his "coat" aria. Nicole Cabell sings with gusto in Musetta's irresistible waltz song. Without short-changing the moments of extreme tenderness and pathos, De Billy conducts with youthful ardour and an acute feeling for the score's variegated colours. All the more frustrating, then, that Netrebko's Mimì bears only a sketchy resemblance to Puccini's "soave fanciulla".” The Telegraph, 21st June 2008

“There is...some fine singing to be heard, all from Rolando Villazón, whose Rodolfo is irresistibly ardent and sustained on a wonderfully burnished tone. But Anna Netrebko, the other half of the much-vaunted dream pairing, is detached and profoundly unmoving as Mimi; there's no colour in the voice and no dramatic credibility in her relationship with Rodolfo, although the way in which the recording spotlights each voice destroys all theatricality anyway. The coarse-grained efforts of the Musetta (Nicole Cabell) and the Marcello (Boaz Daniel) to grab their share of the spotlight only make things worse. Some of the tempos that Bertrand de Billy adopts suggests he was trying to get things over as soon as possible.” The Guardian, 23rd May 2008 **

“It is succulently dramatic – a tribute both to the stars’ power and the conductor Bertrand de Billy’s dramatic ability to steer the score at the drop of a note from uproarious jollity to the shiver that spells death. Villazón, of course, comes up to the mike first, bustling through the opening garret scene with an electricity that immediately separates him from Boaz Daniel’s Marcello and the other bohemian chums. Villazón’s Rodolfo radiates Latin heat throughout: every mood, from ripping bravado through tender concern to abject loss, is vigorously yet tastefully conveyed. Frailty may not be Netrebko’s middle name, but she dampens her force sufficiently to be fairly convincing...Finding the right balance between Mimì’s ill health and a diva’s lung power is never easy: Netrebko comes closest in her impressive D’onde lieta in Act III.” The Times, 16th May 2008 ****

“Vividly recorded, vigorously conducted and sung by a distinguished cast still in their relatively youthful prime … This is a recording which takes its place alongside the acknowledged 'classics'. ” Gramophone Magazine, June 2008

“As Rodolfo, Rolando Villazón is magnificent, by turns ardent and angry and there's a stream of bright golden tone in a ringing 'O soave fanciulla'.” BBC Music Magazine, May 2008 ***

“Few would dare contest Toscanini's place in the podium Pantheon” Classics Today

In his note, ‘La bohème: A tale of two Mimìs’, Stephen Jay-Taylor tells the story. ‘This recording, notable for the youthful freshness of its twin protagonists and the airy impulse of its conducting, might well seem to be the happy product of everything proceeding according to plan. In fact, it was the end result of more than three years of deaths, defections and dismissal.’ It began in 1960 with a plan to rerecord Beecham’s classic 1956 account in stereo. But Beecham was dying and Böjrling died, so sessions were scheduled for 1961 with Victoria de los Angeles and Franco Corelli as the principals. However, Corelli proved impossible to pin down. Then, with Gedda brought in as EMI’s all-repertoire house tenor, the apparently barren de los Angeles fell pregnant – only to do so again come the final rescheduling in 1963. This was Freni’s chance: ‘She had already made well-received debuts at Glyndebourne and Covent Garden...and the sessions proceeded without a hitch, in Olof’s exquisitely crafted, beautifully detailed stereo production. The set...met with considerable acclaim, most of it occasioned by Freni’s meltingly lovely, vernal Mimì’.