Search - Freni, Gedda, Sereni :: La Boheme

Good for beginning opera lovers.

Judith A. Sparanese | Mission Viejo, CA United States | 10/23/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I love this album. The singing is beautiful but best of all I can read the Italian lyrics next to the English translation. It enhances my enjoyment of the opera. It is especially helpful when anticipating seeing the opera in a live performance. I will be ordering more operas in this format, if I can find them."

A Fly in the Ointment

Paul A. Dunphy | Bogota, New Jersey USA | 07/02/2003

(3 out of 5 stars)

"This recording has much to recommend it: Mirella Freni at her freshest - her later von Karajan recording may show the character of Mimi better but her voice absolutely soars here. The Rome Opera orchestra under Thomas Shippers is superb. The sound is excellent for a recording from the early 60s and the supporting cast is more than adequate. So why not more stars? The reason is Nicolai Gedda's Rodolfo. He sings well but his characterization sounds more apropriate for one of his famous operetta recordings. There is no pathos in his performance and his sincerity doesn't come through. Granted, it's one flaw in an otherwise superb recording but it's a big flaw!!"

A tepid Boheme, but the young Freni is a marvel

Santa Fe Listener | Santa Fe, NM USA | 06/17/2006

(3 out of 5 stars)

"This 1962 recording of La Boheme would have slipped through the cracks except for the sparkling appearance of the young Mirella Freni as Mimi. Her great recording of the role, made a decade later under Karajan, would display how deep an interpreter she became; here the main attraction is her meltingly lovely voice sounding youthful and perfectly suited to Puccini's fragile heroine.



The rest has been praised for its freshness by the Gramophone, but I am baffled. To me it sounds as if Schippers slides over the surface of the score, fairly briskly at that, finding few itneresting details. Nicolai Gedda, who should have made a fine Rudolfo, sounds too small for the role, at least as recorded here, and his reticent style is far from Italiante. The other cast members are Italian veterans who sing well enough but bring nothing special to their roles.



Since this was the first Boheme I ever heard, I have a soft spot for it, but the only real quality comes from Freni."