There’s no funny business in conductor Riccardo Frizza’s reading of Puccini’s masterpiece La bohème: every melody, cadence and mood change receives absolute reverence and discipline. The result is a beautiful synthesis, as the vocalists achieve an impeccable balance with the orchestra, who handles Puccini’s tender, forceful writing with leisurely grace.
Disc 1
Disc 2
- Zinka Milanov, Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Chorus of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Alexander Gibson, Franco Corelli, Giangiacomo Guelfi, Michael Langdon, David Tree, Forbes Robinson, Ronald Lewis, Rhydderch Davies & Noreen Berry
- Ruggero Raimondi, Dame Margaret Price, Julia Varady, Lucia Popp, Hermann Winkler, Stafford Dean, Kurt Moll, Bavarian State Orchestra & Wolfgang Sawallisch
- Javier Camarena, Luca Salsi, Enkeleda Kamani, Alessio Cacciamani, Caterina Piva, Valentina Corò, Roman Lyulkin, Francesco Samuele Venuti, Antonio Garés, Davide Piva, Rosalia Cíd, Amin Ahangaran, Greta Doveri, Orchestra del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino & Riccardo Frizza
- Montserrat Caballé, Plácido Domingo, Fiorenza Cossotto, Robert Merrill, Carlo Felice Cillario, The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra & The Metropolitan Opera Chorus
- Dame Joan Sutherland, Alfredo Kraus, Dorothy Cole, Raymond Wolansky, Nicola Ghiuselev, San Francisco Opera Orchestra & Richard Bonynge
- Ildebrando d'Arcangelo, Liudmyla Monastyrska, Stefano La Colla, George Petean, Munich Radio Orchestra & Ivan Repušić