Line #1 Trivia/LaBoheme


1	* AllStarCast: As Mimi, Musetta, Rodolfo, Marcello, Colline, and Schaunard...
2	** Audio Recordings:
3	*** 1956, conducted by Thomas Beecham: Victoria de los Ángeles, Lucine Amara, Jussi Björling, Robert Merrill, Giorgio Tozzi, John Reardon. Often regarded as among the best opera recordings ever pressed.
4	*** 1956, conducted by Antonino Votto: Maria Callas, Anna Moffo, Giuseppe Di Stefano, Rolando Panerai, Nicola Zaccaria, Manuel Spatafora
5	*** 1972, conducted by Herbert von Karajan: Mirella Freni, Elizabeth Harwood, Luciano Pavarotti, Rolando Panerai, Nicolai Ghiaurov, Gianni Maffeo
6	*** 1973, conducted by Georg Solti: Montserrat Caballé, Judith Blegen, Plácido Domingo, Sherrill Milnes, Ruggero Raimondi, Vicente Sardinero
7	*** 1995, conducted by Kent Nagano: Kiri Te Kanawa, Nancy Gustafson, Richard Leech, Alan Titus, Roberto Scanduzzi, Gino Quilico
8	*** 1998, conducted by Riccardo Chailly: Angela Gheorghiu, Elisabetta Scano, Roberto Alagna, Simon Keenlyside, Ildebrando D'Arcangelo, Roberto De Candia
9	** Video Recordings:
10	*** Brian Large's 1988 film casts Italian tenor Luciano Pavarotti as Rodolfo alongside Italian soprano Mirella Freni as Mimi. Canadian baritone Gino Quilico is Marcello, Bulgarian bass Nicolai Ghiaurov (Freni's husband) is Colline, and American baritone Stephen Dickson is Schaunard.
11	*** Robert Dornhelm's 2008 film casts Mexican tenor Rolando Villazón as Rodolfo, Russian soprano Anna Netrebko as Mimi, and American soprano Nicole Cabell as Musetta.
12	* DuelingShows: Ruggero Leoncavallo wrote an opera (premiered in 1897, but written contemporaneously with Puccini's), also entitled ''La bohème'' and based on Murger's novel. His version is rarely performed today.
13	* VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory: the novel apparently differed slightly from accounts of Murgur's real early life, and the opera radically changed the personality of Mimì (whose relationship with Henri was definitely over when it was over.) Marcello is a CompositeCharacter of two different {{painters}}.
14	** Virtually every major character in the opera was to meet an early and depressing end- several of them died of the same disease as Mimì, including Henri Murgar. The real Musetta saved enough money to give up her profession and emigrate to start a new life in the French colony of Algeria... but died when her ship sank in the Mediterranean.
15	* Rodolfo was one of famed tenor Enrico Caruso's best roles. On December 23, 1913, in Philadelphia, Andres de Segurola, the basso singing Colline, told Caruso he was going on despite having the flu. Caruso joked "I'll sing for you". In the last act, right before he was supposed to sing the Coat Song, de Segurola's voice gave out completely. Caruso turned around, and with de Segurola miming, he put on a gorgeous ''basso cantante'' voice and did the song. ''And nobody could tell the difference!'' De Segurola was so impressed he insisted that Caruso make a recording of it. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3cTmEYpBsk And he did]]!

Context Trivia / LaBoheme