La Boheme

Starring: Luciano Pavarotti, Mirella Freni Director: Brian Large Dvd Release: 30th November, 1999 Number Of Discs: 1 Format: Colour, NTSC, Region 0 Encoding Subtitled In: English

Article Index: [Background Info] [DVD Review] [Biographies] [Articles/Resources] [Link To This Article] Looking To Buy? Buy This DVD Here

La Bohème is an often-adapted story first appearing in Henry Murger s magazine articles in the early 1800s. These were turned into a play, La Vie de Bohème, in 1849 & later were compiled into the book Scenes de la Vie de Bohème. It has also been made into several operatic versions, the most famous of them by Giacomo Puccini. The story includes a group of friends in the Bohemian artistic subculture of France ; the group is poor & some of its female members work as courtesans. This creates complicated situations when one of these characters, suffering from tuberculosis, must balance survival against romantic love. In the late 20th century, the musical Rent was based on La Bohème, with AIDS substituted for tuberculosis. A movie, Moulin Rouge!, was also loosely based on this plot; it was directed by Baz Luhrmann, who had previously directed a wildly successful Australian production of Puccinis opera version which opened on Broadway in 2002. La Vie de Bohème novel by Alexandre Dumas, fils, 1848. Posters Of La Boheme

One way to use the DVD format for opera is to provide a video format with a clear picture & sumptuous sound & let a good performance speak more or less for itself. Severinis La Boheme comes with a minimum of trimmings, subtitles in English, French & German; even a short account of the performance history is relegated to text in a booklet. The live performance has real theatrical presence, even to the extent that, at times, the vocal & orchestral subtleties get lost in wild applause. Pavarottis Rodolfo was, in 1988, as plangently lyrical as ever & Frenis care-worn Mimi is a deeply touching & musical performance; Pacetti is a beefy full-blooded no-nonsense Musetta, the waltz song & ensuing duet with Marcello is for once the Broadway show-stopper it ought to be. Of the supporting roles, though, perhaps the most moving is Ghiaurovs Colline, his farewell to his old coat is a short passage of deep pathos which he has rarely sung as well as he does here.

The Italian tenor Luciano Pavarotti, is one of the most famous living opera singers. Luciano Pavarotti was born in Modena, Italy. His father, a gifted amateur singer, baked bread in Mussolini s army. Signor Pavarotti made his operatic debut on April 29, 1961, as Rodolfo in La Bohème, at the opera house in Reggio Emilia. This is his signature role. His American debut came in February 1965, in Lucia di Lammermoor with Joan Sutherland in Miami. However, his major breakthrough came on February 17, 1972, in a production of Donizettis La fille du regiment at New York s Metropolitan Opera, in which he drove the crowd into a frenzy with his nine effortless high Cs in the signature aria. He achieved a record 17 curtain calls. Signor Pavarotti became a household name through frequent television performances, such Rodolfo in the first Live from the Met telecast in March of 1977, which attracted one of the largest audiences ever for a televised opera. He has many Grammys & platinum & gold recordings to his credit. In the 1990s, Pavarotti became famous for his well-attended outdoor concerts. Posters Of Luciano Pavarotti

Editors Choice: Luciano Pavarotti, Pavarotti, La Scala, Verdi, Aida, San Francisco, Die Fledermaus, Royal Opera House, View DVDology

The Italian soprano Mirella Freni is a famous opera singer much admired for the youthful quality of her voice & her acting skills. Her repertoire encompasses some forty roles, Verdi & Puccini in particular but also Tatiana in Tchaikovsky s Eugene Onegin. Freni was married many years to the Bulgarian bass Nicolai Ghiaurov, with whom she performed & recorded frequently. Freni was born Mirella Fregni into a working class family in Modena. She was a musically gifted child & sang Un bel dì vedremo in a radio competition at age ten. The tenor Beniamino Gigli warned her, however, that she risked ruining her voice & advised her to give up singing until she was older. She resumed singing at age 17. Mirella made her operatic debut in Modena at 1955, at age 19, as Micaëla in Carmen. She was offered many roles after this, but she decided to put her career aside & marry her singing teacher, Leone Magiera & have a child. She resumed her career in 1958 by winning a singing competition & singing Mimì in Turin. She then sang with the Netherlands Opera during the 1959-60 season. Posters Of La Boheme

Editors Choice: Eugene Onegin, Tchaikovsky, Verdi, La Boheme, San Francisco, Otello, Ernani, Giuseppe Verdi, View DVDology

©2004-2008 DVDArk.co.uk