Puccini - La Bohème
The either-love-him-or-hate-him tenor sensationAndrea Bocellifulfills  his lifelong dream of recordingPuccini's  rapturousLa Bohème, thereby  affording fans (who may have previously shunned opera) access to this  magical art form. A fragile vulnerability graces Bocelli's Rodolfo. His  tenor's tearful tenderness always seems one step away from breaking,  but it never does; he always delivers. Instead of opening his throat  and letting the voice ride the wave of the breath, Bocelli unabashedly  throws his voice towards the high notes. And it works! The sound is  light, nasal, and effortlessly produced, and the money notes at his  tenor's top expand as vividly as a hot-air balloon. Like a pop singer,  Bocelli leans on the middle voice. What he lacks in phrasing, he makes  up for through his commitment to passion. ConductorZubin Mehta's  sensitive orchestra teases, expands, frolics, and enriches, frequently  upstaging the singers with his rich orchestral emotion.Barbara  Frittoliis a vocal battleship, bringing an unpleasantly thick and wobbly soprano to  the role of the frail Mimì and frequently submerging Bocelli  under steely vocal heft. Her Mimì is not the maker of delicate  flowers, but the person who stomps on them when they've accidentally  fallen to the floor. Bocelli is not  thegreatest Rodolfoon  record. But if this recording creates a new generation of Puccini  lovers, it may be his greatest musical contribution.--Barbara  Eisner Bayer