Ultimate rapture
I have both of the Metropolitan Opera DVDs of la Boheme and consider this the finer production, Carreras and Stratas are not only vocally excellent they look the part. Renata Scotto is perfect as Musetta. In the other copy she plays Mimi and Pavarotti is Rodolfo. They are just too healthy to be dying of TB or look like a starving playwright. That copy I would rate as 4 stars.

Superb male cast in this heart wrenching Boheme.....
I'm relatively new to opera, but still an ardent Carreras-fan who thinks his singing is heavenly and I think he makes a more than convincing Rodolfo here. And his looks at the time is certainly no drawback for him. His acting skills are in my opinion very good; his facial expressions projecting his feelings perfectly. (I prefer a subtle actor instead of someone overacting to compensate for poor voice.)It's heartbreaking watching and listening to him singing in the final scene where Mimi is dying. I can't help but being almost as crushed as him when he realizes that she's actually dead.

Since I'm not an "educated" opera-listener I can't say it bothered me that he had transposed down "che gelida manina". His singing in act III is outstanding; the break-up between Mimi and Rodolfo is heart wrenching. I can feel Rodolfo's despair because he knows Mimi is dying. One of the things that bothered me somewhat in this Boheme is actually Mimi. Teresa Stratas' voice is not something I would call beautiful, by no means. And it disturbed me that she was rotating her tongue in her mouth whenever singing. But apart from that she's actually a sweet Mimi. In my opinion she's a much better actress than singer. And she certainly lookes ill enough for this part. In act IV the duet (O Mimi, tu piu non torni) between Rodolfo and Marcello is outstanding. The duets between Mimi and Rodolfo are also very moving.

Renata Scotto was probably the biggest disappointment. I haven't seen her on stage before. To me she seems affected and I think she is just too much; especially in the second act. Her singing is not what I expected. She sounds shrill and squeaky, although I have to admit she sounds better towards the end of the opera.

Richard Stilwell as Marcello is a gem. His singing as well as his acting is superb and he makes a very amiable painter. He is someone you would like being your friend. The two other Bohemians portrayed by Allan Monk and James Morris are superb. The "coat song" is beautifully sung by James Morris.

I have watched this film a few times and each time I discover something new. I have to say I love just watching the facial expressions of the singers, especially the four bohemians'. Sometimes you just get a brief glimpse of it, but it's still hilarious. (Like the look on Carreras' face when the land-owner Benoit knocks on the door in the first act.) I'm sure I will discover a lot of other things about this Boheme the next time I watch it, which probably will be very soon. The more I watch, the more addicted to it I get.

So my overall feeling here must be that this Boheme has a very good male cast, but the same thing can't be said about the sopranos. Where were Katia Ricciarelli and Agnes Baltsa at that time? Imagine them as Mimi and Musetta, respectively. Well, one can always dream......

Still, I give this Boheme 5 stars. Earned by José Carreras and James Stilwell, mainly. And I can easily put up with the flaws of this Boheme just to be able to watch and listen to Carreras singing the part of Rodolfo.

Great cinematography
I remember this production being televised in the mid 1980s and what impressed me was that it was done on a set rather than on a stage. There was no audience, so it was basically a movie of an opera rather than a video of a stage performance. I don't know, if, as in the making of movies, there were multiple takes until the producer (Franco Zeffirelli) and director (James Levine) were satisfied or if it was recorded straight through, as a stage production would be. Regardless, I think the movie style production worked extraordinarily well. Such a production allows for great cinematography, such as closeups of the facial expressions of the singers and switching camera angles, etc.

Stratas is compelling, her performance both vocal and acting is moving. Her facial expressions indicate that she truly feels the role as a great movie actress would. Obviously, in casting an opera, paramount is the artistic ability of the performer, not the physical characteristcs. Thus, "the fat lady" often sings when if her character were cast in a play or movie, someone younger and more demur would be tapped to play the role. The reason that this movie style production works so well is because Stratas is well cast as Mimi. She is beautiful and her acting is magnificent.

Renata Scotto, as Musetta does a convincing job. Her voice was always wonderful. In fact, around the time that this production was filmed, I had seen her in Adriana Lecouvrer at the Metropolitan Opera. I know that this is a huge digression but, I must mention that Scotto was quite a prima donna. You should have seen her well practiced curtseys and bows during the curtain call. Anyway, suffice it to say that a cast that includes Scotto as well as Jose Carreras makes this an all star production. As I noted earlier, the suitability of the singer to the role as an actor is crucial in staging an opera in this manner (as opposed to running the camera while it os performed on stage) but, when this type of production works, it works extraordinarily well. To me, this production is a grand slam.

Almost wonderful
I've listened to this opera for years, but only seen it twice, both this production, first on VHS, now on DVD. Stratas was perfection as always, with her beautiful voice, and her acting, not that it matters that much, was touching too. The first time I saw this I cried. Carreras and Scotto also were wonderful, especially Scotto with her acting (as well as her voice). I felt that the other singers were adequate, they did good jobs, but were not in a class with the three I already mentioned. I do not like James Levine, I wish he'd stick to Wagner, they were meant for each other. The sets were colorful and beautiful. I read somewhere that this is considered the most loveable of all Italian operas. I can well believe it, especially with this production.

Open your eyes for details, close them to the big picture
I was so excited to watch this opera years ago. It was the first one I had ever seen, and had only heard highlights on a CD (with Pavarotti as Rodolfo). I was overwhelmed at first, because there is so much emotion in this opera: Act 1 is charming, Act 2 is exciting, Act 3 is depressing, and Act 4 is crushing...

Probably my favorite part of this production is Act 2, in which there is an elaborate 2-story set (characteristic of Zefirelli), a gigantic crowd, and Musetta is brought in by horse and carriage (which I missed the first two times I watched it... see, lots of detail). The costumes were great, Mimi's make-up was too extreme in Acts 1 and 2, and I was absolutely pissed when I discovered that Carerras had transposed "Che gelida manina"!!! I had always thought Carerras was terrible, but this performance was the straw that broke the camel's back. I loved the snow in Act 3!!!

I highly reccommend it as a grand introduction to opera and it's staging, but must insist that you purchase the Angela Georghiu and Roberto Alagna CD version of this opera. The music is absoltely perfect!