La Bohème

Extremely edifying, awe-inspiring, and passionate cinematic interpretation of Puccini's opera about a tragic love between the good natured and friendly poet Rodolfo (played by Luca Canonici, and sung by Jose Carreras) and the lonely, consumptive flower girl Mimi (Barbara Hendricks) in the heart of Paris in the late 1800's. Ardent, soulful singing, robust yet sublime performances, seamless production design, exquisite cinematography, and an overall, unparalled sense of craft make this one a winner. Even people who are not fans of opera are bound to be moved.

La Boheme is one of my all-time favourite operas, it has sublime music, compelling characters and a heartbreaking story. This La Boheme is very effective, however it is also sadly overlooked. I grew up with the 1988 production with Pavarotti and Freni and I love the 1965 one with Freni and Gianni Raimondi and the 1982 production with Stratas and Carreras. That said, this is still wonderful.

The costumes, photography and settings are beautiful to look at, and the orchestra and conducting are wonderfully genteel. The performances are terrific, Luca Canonici is a more than credible Rodolfo, and Jose Carreras' singing is superb. Barbara Hendricks is a suitably moving Mimi, Angela Maria Blasi is a sheer delight as Musetta(Quando M'en Vo is beautifully and wittily sung) and Gino Quilico is wholly convincing as Marcello with a fine voice and great style.

All in all, very effective and not one to be as overlooked as I feel it is. 9/10 Bethany Cox

A marvellous production of La Boheme in the verite style. I believe the voice of Rodolfo was dubbed by Placido Domingo. I saw it in the spring of 1999 on Bravo TV, and would love to see it again It's too bad that this film is not available as a video.

This pic has been locked in the vault too long & we all should be castigated for not pushing for a release. It has not been shown in Ozland for a squillion years. Buy the cd & open your ears & have a satisfying listen in the car or wind it up in the lounge room & thus have a real good feeling at the discs end