La Boheme
La Bohème, straight from the horse's mouth to your CD player. Arturo Toscanini led the world premier for this indestructible opera in 1896, and his fiftieth anniversary broadcast performance crackles with nervous energy, rollicking brio in the ensembles, and the Maestro's uniquely controlled rubatos. And it's wonderful to hear him croaking along with Licia Albanese in Mimi's Act 1 aria, while turning that act's concluding love duet into a vocal ménage à trois! The dry acoustics of NBC's Studio 8-H are surprisingly vibrant and lifelike, and the principals make up in commitment and attentiveness to words for what they lack in pure vocal sheen. Your basic stereo Bohème is still Pavarotti/Freni/Karajan, but Toscanini's authenticity still shines across the decades.--Jed Distler