| Puccini - La Boheme | 
| Directors: Franco Zeffirelli, Herbert Von Karajan
Actors: Mirella Freni, Gianni Raimondi, Rolando Panerai, Adriana Martino, Teatro Alla Scala Orchestra And Chorus
Studio: Deutsche Grammophon
Category: DVD
List Price: $29.98
Buy New: $17.78
You Save: $12.20 (41%)
Buy New/Used from $17.45
Avg. Customer Rating:   (12 reviews)
Sales Rank: 46773
Format: Classical, Color, Dts Surround Sound, Ntsc, Subtitled
Languages: Italian (Original Language), English (Original Language), French (Original Language), Spanish (Original Language), German (Original Language), Mandarin Chinese (Original Language), Italian (Subtitled), German (Subtitled), English (Subtitled), French (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled)
Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Media: DVD
Running Time: 103 minutes
Number Of Items: 1
Discs: 1
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6
MPN: 000476709
UPC: 044007340714
EAN: 0044007340714
ASIN: B000F39MA6
Release Date: July 4, 2006
Theatrical Release Date: 1965
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
|
| Similar Items:
| • | Puccini - Madama Butterfly | | • | Puccini - Turandot / Franco Zeffirelli - Marton, Domingo, Mitchell, Plishka, Cuenod - James Levine, MET (1988) | | • | Leoncavallo - I Pagliacci / Mascagni - Cavalleria Rusticana / Domingo, Stratas, Pons, Bruson, Obraztsova, Pretre | | • | Verdi - Rigoletto / Luciano Pavarotti, Ingvar Wixell, Edita Gruberova, Victoria Vergara, Ferruccio Furlanetto, Riccardo Chailly | | • | Puccini - Tosca (remastered) |
|
| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com
Franco Zeffirelli's 1963 Milan production of La Boheme, 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 Cafe 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
|
| Customer Reviews: Read 7 more reviews...
 Another poorly made opera video October 2, 2008
Yes, I must agree with David Cady. This bad habit of producing opera videos with careless post synching is a serious problem about which film producers are remarkably careless. I've worked in the music and film business all my life and know that this lack of care is simply intolerable and unnecessary. Opera is not a naturalistic medium, and any attempt to make it so by re-setting it out doors, in the wrong acoustic setting (such as this Boheme), or acting as if the singers are not singing but in a play, is risible. It is hard to believe that professionals such as Karajan and Zeffirelli should have allowed this to happen. The Domingo/Freni Butterfly is even worse. A great musical performance ruined by an inept video production. Other similar mis-matches would include Glyndebourne's fabulous Porgy and Bess and the Decca/Solti Bluebeard's Castle. Horrible post-synching. The list is endless, sadly.
Very lovely production May 25, 2008
Asin BOOOF39MA6
I found this video very good, I am glad to select this one. Mirella Freni was perfect as Mimi, I have heard her in this character because I have the CD with her an Pavarotti. Gianni Raimondi was very convincing as Rodolfo, and the rest of the singers were excellent. Karajan's conducting was very good. I love all Zeffirelli's work and have some of these productions; this one is not an exception. The setting was perfect and captured the relationships between the characters as well as the costumes of the period. The audio wasn't good but at least I was able to appreciate the singing and the music.
 La Boheme May 3, 2008
One of the many great operas by G Puccini, with the great voices of Mirella Freni, Gianni Raimondi and Rolando Panerai - recorded from La Scala Opera House in Milan,Italy in 1965
I couldn't be happier with it. A great purchase for my collection...Thank you.
la Boheme with Mirella Freni November 26, 2007
I love this Zeffirelli staging of La Boheme and bought it because of Mirella Freni's awesome voice. Will watch this over and over again. A perfect opera in every way.
 Lacking in in any real appeal. July 23, 2007
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
This 2006 re-release of a 1965 filmed performance of Puccini's "La Boheme" suffers from a couple rather serious defects, not the least of which is the fact that the performance is lip-synced - and not very well at that. The direction and design by Franco Zeffirelli is dated and nowhere close to his updated, more colorful versions seen at the Met in recent years. In this DVD version, recorded at Teatro alla Scala, Milan on May 15, 1965, the color is faded, and for those of us accustomed to watching new versions of recently performed operas on DVD, the absence of widescreen is sorely missed. Adding to the problems with this DVD is the fact that the Cafe Momus scene looks more like a men's smoking lounge than a Parisian cafe. Indeed, the number of men actually smoking cigars, puffing thick wisps of smoke into the air, is distractingly offensive, and would never be tolerated by singers in actual performance. True, watching a 29-year old Mirella Freni was fun, but watching her lip-sync was - well, unnatural. Having seen this opera performed a number of times by more contemporary singers, I found Musetta's seduction scene (sung here by Adriana Martino) outside the Cafe Momus, to be stale - and surrounded by cigar smoke as she was, hardly seductive. Contemporary versions of this opera give Musetta ample opportunity to make her "Quando men vo soletta per la via" an unforgettably, sexy experience, with plenty of thigh and flirting going on. This version, as most others, lacks that sex appeal, and might likely suffer because of it with contemporary audiences. A review from OperaOnline.us.
|
|
|
