Puccini - La Boheme - Karajan, Freni, Raimondi

Franco Zeffirelli's 1963 Milan production of La Bohème, preserved in this 1965 film, provides a richly satisfying take on Puccini's much-loved romantic tragedy. The staging is opulent, not least in the way Zeffirelli opens up the Café Momus and turns it into a warm, vibrant haven for the bohemians and their followers. But it's the relationships that really matter here. Puccini's score--conducted with restrained passion by Herbert von Karajan--develops in a wonderfully linear way, with some of his most intensely moving arias and duets underpinning the evolution of the bohemian artists, particularly Rodolfo and Marcello, from immature egotists to rounded human beings, touched by tragedy.

The film does look dated now--Mirella Freni's Mimi, sung with moving clarity, has the doe-eyed look of a 1960s pop star and the camera work is a tad unsophisticated--but the singing still puts the listener through the wringer. Gianni Raimondi's Rodolfo (Che gelida manina) struggles manfully to come to terms with his emotional shortcomings, and Adriana Martino (Musetta) has some fine comic moments before playing her vital part in the overwhelming sadness of the final scenes. Soul food for the tragically inclined. --Piers Ford ...

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