Puccini La Boheme: Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Spano on Hybrid SACD

As even the casual opera fan knows, La Bohème is the story of friendship, love and loss in a community of bohemians in 19th century Paris. For its time, the story was the antithesis of the usual elements of melodrama (intrigue, violence, jealous rage, assassinations, etc.). Instead, La Bohème is an intimate view of the intertwined lives of a group of sensitive young people.

“Like the characters themselves, the singers on our recording are young, and that youth is evident in their voices,” says Telarc President Robert Woods, co-producer of the recording. “I am continually taken by the freshness and vitality of this cast. When it was decided to perform the opera at the opening of ASO’s 2007-08 season, conductor Robert Spano knew that he wanted this Bohème to be one of the most believable interpretations ever recorded.”