Giacomo Puccini
La Bohème

As a Turinese, I am greatly pleased that the first performance of this wonderful opera was held in Turin, at the Teatro Regio, on February 1, 1896. On the other hand, I am very sorry that the local press of the time made short-sighted, unflattering judgments and nonsense that hid vendettas and grudges.

For example: "La Bohème, just as it doesn't leave a great impression on the listeners' minds, will not leave a great mark in the history of our lyric theater" (LA GAZZETTA PIEMONTESE. today: LA STAMPA). As Totò used to say; <Ma mi faccia il piacere, mi faccia!>

This is the "art of minutiae" opera that embellishes orchestral gigantism, Puccini sheds light on many particulars to express a personal and modern poetics. It illuminates the hearth, the ice dripping down from the eaves, a pale ray of sun that powders the face of the dying woman, the toy seller, the lovers, a worn-out door, the hands in the shadows: <>(Giacomo Puccini at the time of La Bohème). "Minutiae" but not simple. For example, the second act - "Al Quartiere Latino," due to its lyrical continuum, is one of the most harmonically complex pieces Puccini ever created. 

But let's talk about this recording. Occasionally in the history of art, something imponderable, unpredictable, magical, and unrepeatable happens, converging simultaneously at a single point at the same moment, uniting the state of grace of multiple elements. The fusion represented by this work includes: Herbert von Karajan, Luciano Pavarotti, Mirella Freni, Berliner Philharmoniker, Elizabeth Harwood, Rolando Panerai, Nicolai Ghiaurov, and DECCA. 

Herbert von Karajan conducts with elegance, meticulousness, precision, and attention that verge on compulsive mania. Like a new generation Merlin, waving his baton, he creates magic one after another. The sound of the orchestra is so beautiful and clear that at times the atmosphere that reaches our ears, hearts, and souls seems a metaphysical expression that merges with the immaterial beauty of the universe. He follows the singers as if slightly touching their shoulders, allowing them to mark the score with a strong impressionist tint, making it even more transporting and felt. The orchestral and vocal dynamics mastered by Karajan in this edition is the greatest executive lesson in the history of melodrama. Something that will not be repeated. Knowing this is the opera of giant miniatures, Karajan takes note by note and reshapes it, molds it, cares for it, as if wanting to be Puccini himself for the entire interpretation. Such dedication, thank goodness, takes him even further.

Now to the singers. In this recording, a miracle within a miracle happens. The first miracle recognized by the entire global critique is the fusion/meeting of the two most beautiful voices of the twentieth century; Mirella Freni and Luciano Pavarotti, making them by far, but very, very, very much, the greatest couple in opera history (for me, in all of music). The second miracle is that both in this recording will surpass themselves by simultaneously recording their greatest performance on record, both technically and interpretatively. To tell the truth, Mirella Freni has always sailed at the levels of this recording throughout her career. As the great vocal beast she is, she rarely allowed herself to falter. But here her extraordinary capabilities are further enhanced by Karajan's and Pavarotti's great eagerness to outshine themselves. Being a goddess of the larynx, she shows them both that if they intend to create perfection, she can easily conform. And naturally, perfection it was! Her poetic, velvety, wide, celestial, and otherworldly singing washes over you in unstoppable shivers that spread across the face like a bucket of cold water, leaving you stunned on the spot. Every passage, every note, the volume, the control, the power of emission, the intensity and emotion expressed, are perfection and the pinnacle of female vocal interpretation of the last forty years (along with the Butterfly recording, also with Karajan and Pavarotti). There is a moment in the aria "Sì, mi chiamano Mimì," where the explosion of the orchestra and her high note merge to such an extent that we think if a god exists, it is surely made of music. IMMENSE.

Luciano Pavarotti ... cross and delight of the classical and opera world. The great tenor who became the tenorissimo of the masses, managing to annoy us with senseless ostentations, improbable collaborations, and vocal dilutions in the popular charts. Before becoming a caricature of himself, big Luciano was simply the greatest singer of all time (as admitted by almost the entire opera world), who never missed a beat. We're talking about the 60s - 70s. Years in which Big Luciano could have easily walked around with a t-shirt that read: "THERE ISN’T ONE & NEVER WILL BE FOR ANYONE!!!" No one who had already heard him would have ever had the courage to contradict him. At the time, he was simply a prodigy of nature that nature itself is unable to control. In this interpretation, his "silvery" timbre rings like the trumpets of heaven with strong-piano control that sometimes almost frightens. When he launches into sentiment passages, his force is something epic and delicate at the same time. The vocal power released in the high notes is capable of bringing down a mountain. His artistic marriage with Freni and Karajan's demands spur him to demonstrate why he is the greatest ever. Here, Luciano leaves his testament of invincibility.

The other singers are simply perfect, ready, flawless, immersed, and aware of the level needed to be considered great. Panerai, besides being good, plays a very charming Marcello. Harwood is a polished and elegant Musetta who stands out thanks to the support of the orchestra, and Ghiaurov is perfect despite facing Colline for the first time, with his huge voice that is difficult to control. The Berliner Philharmoniker gives a performance that posterity will remember as an example of directional receptiveness that leaves one astonished. An artistic professionalism with few equals.

In conclusion. One of the greatest listens a human being can extract from a piece of plastic containing a universe.