R E V I E W S:

"Filmed in 1989 at the San Francisco Opera, Francesca Zambello’s production is straightforward, unlike much of what she directs today. Mirella Freni and Luciano Pavarotti were well into their fifties at the time this was recorded, the camera not always kind, but once they start singing, they become the eternal young lovers. Pavarotti is surprisingly agile, far from the self-parody familiar from more recent video and live performances. Gino Quilico is an exceptional Marcello, Ghiaurov sounds his age, with Stephen Dickson holding his own in this exalted company. Sandra Pacetti starts out as perhaps the most vulgar of Musettas, but is affecting in her last-act appearance. The camera close-ups as she talks to Marcello tend toward the melodramatic, as in the theater we are usually focused on Mimi...Tiziano Severini is efficient, sometimes faster, sometimes slower than is usual in this score, with the orchestra perhaps too much in the background."
- Joel Kasow, FANFARE