giazomo puccini opera la boheme takes place in

The orchestra play with such ravishing tone and elegant line as well as real poetry and nuance. Musically, there is next to nothing that came across as wrong. The video directing and editing as well as the sound are superb, one of the best shot La Bohemes on DVD and one of the most cinematic-looking and visually striking of any opera production seen recently by me. The costumes and sets are sumptuous in period detail and colourful, the backdrop at the end beautifully designed, and the lighting is very clever and sometimes almost noir-ish. All the major arias and the ending are incredibly moving as they should while the singers have plenty of space to really feel and let out what the characters are feeling(Inva Mula is particularly great at this). A vast majority of Giancarlo De Monaco's directing is imaginative(especially in Act 2) with a very cinematic touch while not forgetting for a minute the heart and emotion of the opera. The chorus in Act 2 are too blocky and cramped- actually not that uncommon a problem regarding La Boheme- and the additional stage business during the Act 3 duet and quartet was unnecessary in parts of the opera that are very suggestive of intimacy.

Not the best version of La Boheme, a tough one since there are some truly great ones available on DVD(it is between the Freni, Scotto, Cotrubas and Stratas productions, as of now Freni's gets the edge), but still a winner all round.

Giazomo puccini opera la boheme takes place in