Luciano Pavarotti in Puccini’s legendary “La bohème” from 1977 – now free at Met Opera on Demand
The Metropolitan Opera in New York has just begun a month of celebrating the centenary of Giacomo Puccini’s death, which falls on November 29. On this occasion, you selected legendary performances of the composer’s most famous works are available to watch for free until the end of the month. Access details and full list of performances can be found here.
The historic broadcast of “La bohème” from March 15, 1977 was selected from the extensive Met Opera on Demand catalogue. The show marked the launch of the Live from the Met series. The classic production by Fabrizio Melano stars tenor Luciano Pavarotti as Rodolfo and soprano Renata Scotto as Mimì. Also featuring: soprano Maralin Niska (Musetta), baritones Ingvar Wixell (Marcello) and Allan Monk (Shaunard) and bass Paul Plishka (Colline).
Puccini wrote “La bohème” in 1896. Giuseppe Giacosa’s libretto tells the story of four poor artists: Schaunard, Rodolfo, Colline and Marcello. Rodolfo falls in love with Mimì, but the girl’s illness stands in the way of their happiness.
Another performance with Pavarotti, available for free until the end of the month, is “Tosca” from December 19, 1978. The tenor plays the role of Cavaradossi, a painter and political revolutionary in love with the beautiful and famous singer Tosca (Shirley Verrett). However, the diabolical head of the Roman police, Baron Scarpia (Cornell MacNeil), wants Tosca for himself. He underestimates the fury of a woman in love. James Conlon conducts Tito Gobbi’s production.
Met Opera on Demand is a paid online streaming platform featuring over 700 performances of the Metropolitan Opera online.
Photo on homepage: courtesy of the Met Opera Archives