Giacomo Puccini: La Boheme [Victoria De Los Angeles, Jussi Bjorling (Bjoerling), Lucine Amara, Robert Merrill, John Reardon, Giorgio Tozzi, Fernando Corena; Sir Thomas Beecham) [Cantus Classics edition]
On Cantus Classics 500890; 2 CD's; Please note that Cantus releases do NOT include a libretto. This is an absolutely essential recording for every collection!! Every so often in the recording industry, there's a miracle, and this is one of them. This 1956 recording was organized quickly in New York, not on the heels of a stage performance and not even with a noted orchestra. All the right singers were in town at the same time--some popping in to sing a few bars before heading for the airport--and the result is the single greatest recording of this oft-recorded opera. The leads--Victoria de Los Angeles and Jussi Björling--would make it special in any case. But Robert Merrill is excellent and Lucine Amara is a light-voiced, French-sounding, ultra-stylish Musetta. This is also the only full-length Puccini recording by the great conductor Sir Thomas Beecham. A classic. --David Patrick Stearns
Giacomo Puccini  (Composer),     Sir Thomas Beecham  (Conductor),     Victoria De Los Angeles  (Performer),     Jussi Bjorling (Bjoerling)  (Performer),     Lucine Amara  (Performer),     Robert Merrill  (Performer),     Giorgio Tozzi  (Performer),     John Reardon  (Performer),     Fernando Corena  (Performer)    &                   6                  more   Format: Audio CD
{"Item Weight": "0.01 Ounces", "Manufacturer": "Cantus Classics", "Date First Available": "January 12, 2009", "Label": "Cantus Classics", "Number of discs": "2"}