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14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
An all-Italian production from Milan, 1938., 1 Aug 2001
Naxos continue to reissue historic recordings at fast and extremely inexpensive rates. This is a Ward Marston transfer of a 1938 recording of "La Boheme", made at Milan. In addition there are ten bonus tracks of recordings made by the Mimi in the opera set, Licia Albanese.Although old enough to have been brought up on this "Boheme" set, I had never heard it until receiving this 2001 issue. Ears soon got used to the dull monochrome sound, the balance relegating the orchestra to "accompaniment" position (apart from the harp), and the minimal attempt at presenting on and off stage perspectives. The set enables us to hear not only how Italian forces performed the opera at La Scala, Milan in 1938, but also a complete opera recording by the great tenor Beniamino Gigli. His golden-toned, generous singing is glorious, it must be said, although recordings he made of "Che gelida manina" and "In un coupè?" several years earlier are preferable. The various non-musically notated sounds he added to whatever he sang are heard in profusion here, together with the rise to top C at the end of the love duet. He adds one or two words of dialogue occasionally too, and copious crying over the death of Mimi. Cheap tricks, perhaps, or a production attempt to give a "live stage" impression to a listening audience. The Mimi is the 20-year-old Licia Albanese, who displays a fresh lyric voice and more portamento than one hears nowadays. Naxos have provided a selection of ten Licia Albanese recordings as a bonus, but have not correctly identified their details. The item on Track 14 was composed by R Bellini. He also composed the item on Track 15, "Giro-Tondo", although his name is omitted. The composer listed as "Buzzi" of the item on Track 17 was Arturo Buzzi-Peccia (1853-1943). If you're a Gigli fan, then you'll want to have this latest reissue of one of his complete opera recordings. I hope the series continues with Gigli's recordings of "Tosca" and "Madama Butterfly" which gained immeasurably from being recorded in the Rome Opera House.
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