Puccini La Bohème
March 2005 Reviewed by: Rad Bennett Format: DVD	(all ratings out of 5): Overall Enjoyment Picture Quality Packaged Extras Sound Quality

I believe there are more DVD versions of this opera than any other. That makes sense, because La Bohème is widely loved and such an audience-accessible work. Based on a series of 23 stories by Henri Murger, the plot concerns the lives of poor, starving artists living in a garret in the Latin Quarter of Paris in the 19th century. Rodolfo is a poet and writer, Marcello a painter, Colline a philosopher, and Schaunard a musician. There are two love stories. Marcello re-ignites his tempestuous affair with Musetta, a volatile flirt. Rodolfo meets Mimi, a seamstress, when her candle goes out and she knocks on his door to ask for a light.

The main romance is that of Mimi and Rodolfo, a doomed affair, because Mimi has consumption and is dying. Their lush, romantic melodic lines are contrasted with the jauntier music written for the second pair of lovers, Musetta and Marcello.

The opera is cast with up-and-coming young singers that look right in their parts. Baz Luhrmann, the director of the hit film Moulin Rouge, tried this approach, not only using young singers but also transporting them to the 20th century. This worked dramatically but fell flat because Luhrmann’s singers did not have beautiful voices. There is no such problem here. Every actor-singer has a fine voice and knows how to use it. Mimi and Rodolfo are particularly well suited and make a wonderful impression, whether singing alone or together. Hong’s Musetta is more three-dimensional than most. She tosses off her famous second-act aria with wild abandon, yet is able to show great sensitivity and nuance in the fourth act, as she aids the dying Mimi.

The Orchestra and Chorus of La Scala are superb in all ways, and conductor Bartoletti gets right to the musical heart of every scene without ever letting the music bog down in sentimentality. His is one of the most musically meaningful readings of this score that I have ever heard. The staging is lush and colorful, particularly the second-act crowd scenes, which are deftly handled. Franco Zeffirelli has been directing and staging this opera for decades. His love and reverence for the work shows, but he also brings fresh inspiration and insight to the production.

The opera was shot in sharply focused widescreen, so it is possible to see the whole stage when necessary. More often than not, the camera is up close to the singers, allowing the home viewer an intimacy that would be denied a ticket holder. The television directing of Gino Rossi is outstanding. He obviously knows the opera backward and forward and has the camera at exactly the right place at the right time. The sound is good in all three formats, with outstanding balance between the singers and the orchestra. Some might prefer the PCM stereo tracks, which are uncompressed, while others will choose the Dolby Digital or DTS tracks for their presence.

There is only one extra, but it is a multi-part interview with Zeffirelli, in which he talks about his experience with this opera and his adventures with Herbert von Karajan, and discusses Maria Callas. The audio for this is the original Italian, but English subtitles are provided, as they are for the opera. I still have fondness for the Freni-Pavarotti version on Kultur, but this one, which benefits from better video and sound, will surely be placed right beside it from now on.

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