The 1973 La bohème is so overrated
The Solti recording of Bohème is completely miscast.
By Mr. Fabulous
222 comments
Luciano Pavarotti
125 pieces since 2006 — in 20 roles, at 6 companies, most often at Metropolitan Opera.
125
pieces
20
roles
6
companies
21
years
By role
9 pieces as Rodolfo — stats above show all coverage for Luciano Pavarotti.
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Change my mind about the Toscanini Bohème
It’s like making love with someone whose rap never ceases—and includes “helpful suggestions” about how you can be improving your game.
By Peter Russell
79 comments
Loving him isn’t the right thing to do
Matthew Travisano takes on Mimì’s Act III aria from La bohème — not that one, the other one — in the latest installment of the “Perspectives on an Aria” series
Act two
Chris’s Cache sends Renata Scotto a valentine ahead of her 89th birthday next week with rare in-house recordings of eight (!) mid-career performances spanning 1971-1977.
This is a gala day for you
On October 14, 1979 I spent my birthday attending my first all-star opera gala, thrilled at the chance to hear some of the great singers I’d only experienced on LPs, broadcasts or via my pirate reel-to-reel tapes.
Poisons of interest
Trove Thursday uncovered two broadcasts of Donizetti’s Lucrezia Borgia that share a fascinating nexus: in each an enduring superstar tenor—José Carreras/Alfredo Kraus—is poisoned by a soon-to-vanish rising-star soprano—Vasso Papantoniou/Margarita Castro-Alberty.
In memoriam Mirella Freni
Today’s Trove Thursday was originally scheduled for February 27, which would have been Mirella Freni’s 85th birthday, but instead we remember today the beloved soprano who passed away this past weekend in Puccini.
Man of the camellias
Tuesday the Met unveils its sixth new production of La Traviata since moving to Lincoln Center.
Carlos at the Bat
“Trove Thursday” celebrates with Carlos Kleiber conducting Johann Strauss, Jr.’s Die Fledermaus.