Los Angeles herald., 1907-10-15
BERTOZZI AMONG
GREATEST MINIS
ola HoHEME" PRODUCTION IN
FIRST RANK
Venetian Scores Triumph = Opera
Rendered as Never Before In
the History Of Los
Angeles

Rx ,fp,e. Geneyrn Johnstone- Bishop
The wonderfully beautiful opera of La
Boheme'' Puccinfs musical portrayal Oh
Paris Bohemian life, was given last
night by the Milan grand opera COM
pany. and given exceedingly well-oy lar
better than San Carlos opera company s
production last year, and superior 10
any italian company nave ever heaiu
west of Chicago.
The first presentation of this opera was
in Turin, Italy, February 2, 1896. 1t Is
one of the latest of what may be called
the popular Italian operas and ranks
with the best productions of the past
decade.
The story is taken from Murger's well
known and extensively read novel, "Bo-
hemian Life in Paris" and deals realis-
tically and pathetically with student life
in the Latin quarter in the '30s
Here it is that students gather from
all civilized lands, spurred by ambition
to win the worlds applause as singers,
painters, sculptors and poets Few sue.
ceed. many fail. and oh, the sad end OF
many whose star of hope has beguiled
them to the dark reaches of despair!
Murger has written of them; Puccini
has dramatized the story into song.
beautiful. fascinating opera 1t is.
The orchestra is wonderfully attractive
with the baton in the hands Of such a
In many places, however, last night he
did not subdue his Instruments enough;
he gave us few ear-deafening noises
and the soloists could not be heard
above them. Usually, however, the or
chestral accompaniment was beautiful.
Applause Enthusiastic
Lima Bertozzi, a Venetian by birth,
secured especially for the role of
Mimi, gained unstinted applause and
praise for her artistic singing and sym
pathetic acting. She is fair to look
upon and was revelation to many.
The richness of tone and the beauty of
her voice was apparent in that gem or
solo, Isl Mi Chiamano Mimi" ana in
that wonderfully dramatic duet with
Rodolfo at the end of the first act.
Angelo Parola is conscientious in all
his work and proves himself to be
versatile artist. He sang Lucia" twice
last week and La Tosca," and came
on last evening in La BoLeme," his
beautiful voice of Agostine. who sang
here several years ago with the Del
Canto opera company. He is more
dramatic, however, and phrases well.
His first solo was most artistic and he
received a hearty encore after such a
rendition. He ought to have had a
dozen recalls.
Ferrabini Frenchy
Ester Ferrabini was beautiful,
Frenchy Musetta, sparkling with infin-
ite charm of style. Her high notes are
a little uncertain at times, but it is a
voice the public will never tire of and
she scored a triumph. 1 have seen and
heard Musettas 1 liked better in every
way l much prefer her as Tosca.
lombard as Collne and Bergami as
Alcindoro were good. In the last coat
SOLO that Lombardi sang the tempo
was entirely too fast and / was dis
appointed in it. He was encored and
then sang it much better. Alessandro
Arcangeli was immense in tie role of
MarcelIo; rich and broad a great voice
and artistic acting marks him a great
artist.
Taken altogether I do not think La
Boheme" has ever been given as satis-
factorily before Los Angeles audi
ence, even when Melba sang the part of
Mimi. She had a horrid tenor and a
bad unbalanced company.
Orchestra Good
The orchestra played we'll
LA Boheme' is a beautiful opera and
a great favorite. Certainly Lima Ber-
tazzi is one of the very best Minis be-
fore the public in this country.
Cast for s.La Boheme"
The cast for La Boheme'' was: