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Puccini: La Bohème / Pappano, Alagna, Vaduva, Et Al


Release Date: 10/17/2006 
Label:  Emi Classics   Catalog #: 58650   Spars Code: DDD 
Composer:  Giacomo Puccini
Performer:  Simon Keenlyside,  Roberto Alagna,  Thomas Hampson,  Leontina Vaduva,   ... 
Conductor:  Antonio Pappano
Orchestra/Ensemble:  Philharmonia Orchestra,  London Oratory Junior Choir,  London Voices
Number of Discs: 2 
Recorded in: Stereo 
Length: 1 Hours 42 Mins. 

CD not available: This title is currently only available as an MP3 download.  

Notes and Editorial Reviews

Pappano conducts with ever-fresh imagination, bringing out not just subtle emotions alongside high passion, but also the fun of the piece. This is a version to stand alongside the classics of the past.

[C]onducted with ever-fresh imagination, bringing out not just subtle emotions alongside high passion, but also the fun of the piece... [T]he exchanges when Mimi arrives have the most moving intimacy...with the singers given full expressive freedom within a purposeful frame... [T]his is a version to stand alongside the classics of the past.

-- The Penguin Guide to Compact Discs & DVDs [2003/4 edition]

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From the opening bars, Read more Pappano and the Philharmonia sweep us right into this passionate, tender and invigorating performance, creating a stunning piece of ensemble opera in the studio.

This Bohème has a truly impressive cast list. Ramey as Colline underplays his vibrant bass sound in ‘Vecchia zimarra, senti’, which somewhat reduces the impact of the aria, but his phrasing is superb. Hampson delivers a strongly characterised, intense Marcello whose exchanges with Alagna at the openings of Acts I and IV and with Vaduva in Act III are beautifully crafted. His scenes with Swenson’s Musetta are appropriately fiery. Swenson gives every phrase of Musetta’s music the essential flirtatious menace of a woman on the make. This is bold characterisation allied to glorious, golden sound. Vaduva’s Mimì grows more poignant and effective with each act. Her radiant tone and sense of pace provide an exquisite ‘Donde lieta’ and the Act I duet with Alagna simply soars.

-- Elise McDougall, BBC Music Magazine
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Works on This Recording

1. La Bohème by Giacomo Puccini
Performer:  Simon Keenlyside (Baritone), Roberto Alagna (Tenor), Thomas Hampson (Baritone),
Leontina Vaduva (Soprano), Samuel Ramey (Bass), Enrico Fissore (Baritone),
Philip Sheffield (Tenor), Paul Parfitt (Baritone), Jeffrey Carl (Baritone),
Kathryn Turpin (Mezzo Soprano), Daniel Hoadley (Tenor), Richard Fallas (Bass),
Juliet Oppenheimer (), Ruth Ann Swenson (Soprano)
Conductor:  Antonio Pappano
Orchestra/Ensemble:  Philharmonia Orchestra,  London Oratory Junior Choir,  London Voices
Period: Romantic 
Written: 1896; Italy 
 Language: Italian 

Sound Samples

La Bohème, ATTO PRIMO/ACT ONE/ERSTER AKT/PREMIER ACTE: Questo Mar Rosso mi ammollisce e assidera (Marcello/Rodolfo/Colline)
La Bohème, ATTO PRIMO/ACT ONE/ERSTER AKT/PREMIER ACTE: Abasso, abasso l'autore! (Marcello/Colline/Rodolfo/Schaunard)
La Bohème, ATTO PRIMO/ACT ONE/ERSTER AKT/PREMIER ACTE: Si poù? Chi è là? (Benoît/Marcello/Schaunard/Colline/Rodolfo)
La Bohème, ATTO PRIMO/ACT ONE/ERSTER AKT/PREMIER ACTE: Al Quartiere Latin ci attende Momus (Schaunard/Marcello/Rodolfo/Colline)
La Bohème, ATTO PRIMO/ACT ONE/ERSTER AKT/PREMIER ACTE: Non sono in vena. Chi è là! (Rodolfo/Mimì)
La Bohème, ATTO PRIMO/ACT ONE/ERSTER AKT/PREMIER ACTE: Che gelida manina (Rodolfo)
La Bohème, ATTO PRIMO/ACT ONE/ERSTER AKT/PREMIER ACTE: Sì. Mi chiamano Mimì (Mimì/Rodolfo)
La Bohème, ATTO PRIMO/ACT ONE/ERSTER AKT/PREMIER ACTE: Ehi! Rodolfo! ... O soave fanciulla (Schaunard/Colline/Marcello/Rodolfo/Mimì)
La Bohème, ATTO SECONDO/ACT TWO/ZWEITER AKT/DEUXIEME ACTE: Aranci, datteri! (Coro/Schaunard/Colline/Rodolfo/Mimì/Marcello/Children)
La Bohème, ATTO SECONDO/ACT TWO/ZWEITER AKT/DEUXIEME ACTE: Chi guardi? ... Odio il profano volgo (Rodolfo/Colline/Mimì/Schaunard/Marcello/Coro/Parpignol/Children)
La Bohème, ATTO SECONDO/ACT TWO/ZWEITER AKT/DEUXIEME ACTE: Beviam! ... Ch'io beva del tossico! (Mimì/Rodolfo/Marcello/Schaunard/Colline/ Alcindoro/Musetta)
La Bohème, ATTO SECONDO/ACT TWO/ZWEITER AKT/DEUXIEME ACTE: Quando me'n vo (Musetta/Marcello/Alcindoro/Mimì/Rodolfo/Schaunard/Colline)
La Bohème, ATTO SECONDO/ACT TWO/ZWEITER AKT/DEUXIEME ACTE: Chi l'ha richiesto?! ... Vediam! (Colline/Schaunard/Rodolfo/Marcello/Coro/Children/Musetta)
La Bohème, ATTO TERZO/ACT THREE/DRITTER AKT/TROISIEME ACTE: Ohè, là, le guardie! ... Aprite! (Coro/Doganiere/Musetta/Mimì/Sergente dei Doganieri)
La Bohème, ATTO TERZO/ACT THREE/DRITTER AKT/TROISIEME ACTE: Mimì!...Speravo di trovarvi qui (Marcello/Mimì)
La Bohème, ATTO TERZO/ACT THREE/DRITTER AKT/TROISIEME ACTE: Marcello...Finalmente (Rodolfo/Marcello/Mimì)
La Bohème, ATTO TERZO/ACT THREE/DRITTER AKT/TROISIEME ACTE: Addio ... Donde liete usci al tuo grido d'amore (Mimì/Rodolfo)
La Bohème, ATTO TERZO/ACT THREE/DRITTER AKT/TROISIEME ACTE: Dunque è proprio finita! (Rodolofo/Mimì/Marcello/Musetta)
La Bohème, ATTO QUATRO/ACT FOUR/VIERTER AKT/QUATRIEME ACTE: In un coupè? ... Con pariglia e livree (Marcello/Rodolfo)
La Bohème, ATTO QUATRO/ACT FOUR/VIERTER AKT/QUATRIEME ACTE: O Mimì, tu più non torni (Rodolfo/Marcello)
La Bohème, ATTO QUATRO/ACT FOUR/VIERTER AKT/QUATRIEME ACTE: Che ora sia? (Rodolfo/Marcello/Schaunard/Colline)
La Bohème, ATTO QUATRO/ACT FOUR/VIERTER AKT/QUATRIEME ACTE: Musetta! ... C'è Mimì che mi segue e che sta male (Marcello/Musetta/Rodolfo/Schaunard/Mimì/Colline)
La Bohème, ATTO QUATRO/ACT FOUR/VIERTER AKT/QUATRIEME ACTE: Vecchia zimarra, senti! (Colline)
La Bohème, ATTO QUATRO/ACT FOUR/VIERTER AKT/QUATRIEME ACTE: Schaunard, ognuno per diversa via (Colline/Schaunard)
La Bohème, ATTO QUATRO/ACT FOUR/VIERTER AKT/QUATRIEME ACTE: Sono andati? (Mimì/Rodolfo)
La Bohème, ATTO QUATRO/ACT FOUR/VIERTER AKT/QUATRIEME ACTE: Oh Dio! Mimì! ... Che avvien (Rodolfo/Schaunard/Mimì/Musetta/Marcello/Colline)

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