Anna Netrebko, Rolando Villazón, Nicole Cabell, Mariusz Kwiecien, Boaz Daniel, Vitalij Kowaljow, Kevin Connors, Tiziano Bracci & Gerald Haeussler Chor des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Kinderchor des Stadttheaters am Gärtnerplatz & Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Bertrand de Billy A sparkling recording of Puccini’s La Bohème, recorded live at the Gasteig in Munich, under studio-like conditions. In three concert performances in April 2007, Anna Netrebko, Rolando Villazón, Nicole Cabell, Boaz Daniel and conductor Bertrand de Billy generated a special chemistry. This is a cast with youth on its side, so there is real credibility to Puccini’s story of bohemians in Paris. Emotion, spontaneity, intensity: Puccini’s beloved opera demands them all. The audience had the rare chance to experience magic being created; a sensation that has been captured in this live but studio-like recording “Any frisson between the lovers is supplied by Rolando Villazón's impassioned, impulsive, gloriously sung Rodolfo. Fellow Bohemians Marcello and Schaunard are lively and quick-witted, though Colline tends to wobble in his "coat" aria. Nicole Cabell sings with gusto in Musetta's irresistible waltz song.
Without short-changing the moments of extreme tenderness and pathos, De Billy conducts with youthful ardour and an acute feeling for the score's variegated colours. All the more frustrating, then, that Netrebko's Mimì bears only a sketchy resemblance to Puccini's "soave fanciulla".” The Telegraph, 21st June 2008 | 
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Gramophone Magazine
