# Ideal Opera Cast



## john august smith (Jul 6, 2008)

If you could cast these operas with anyone from the past to the present- BOHEME, TOSCA and BUTTERFLY- who would they be? keep in mind, singing ability, acting ability and stage presence or charisma. You could throw in reasons, if you wish. You have a lot of choices over the last 150 years. Have fun!


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## Chi_townPhilly (Apr 21, 2007)

I have recordings of all three of these Puccini warhorses... but my only knowledge of visual presentation comes from memories of telecasts... so I'm certainly not qualified to speak of stage presence and acting impressions. Of the three, I'm most familiar with _Bohème_- and I can't imagine a better Rodolfo than the young Pavarotti. I don't think any tenor's stage-acting in that role would be enough to make me overlook the glorious singing of Pavarotti in his prime.

I'm as sure of this as it is possible for me to be sure of *anything* in Italian opera.


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## Chi_townPhilly (Apr 21, 2007)

It's rough days for the _Azzuri_ when it falls to the neighborhood Wagnerian to try to keep a Puccini thread alive!

Do *you* have any ideas on this topic, *john*?!?

How about _early_ Callas (i.e.: pre-"superwobbles") for Floria Tosca?!


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## SalieriIsInnocent (Feb 28, 2008)

Bryn Terfel
John Tomilinson


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## jhar26 (Jul 6, 2008)

LA BOHEME:
-Mirella Freni or Renata Tebaldi
-Luciano Pavarotti or Jussi Bjorling

TOSCA:
-Maria Callas
-Franco Corelli
-Tito Gobbi

MADAMA BUTTERFLY
-Mirella Freni, Renata Tebaldi or Renata Scotto
-Jose Carreras (the young Carreras)


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## Chi_townPhilly (Apr 21, 2007)

Since Alfredo Kraus in his salad days was such an effective Duke of Mantua in Verdi's _Rigoletto_, I wonder if those same qualities would serve him well as Pinkerton in Puccini's *Madama Butterfly*?


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## Elgarian (Jul 30, 2008)

I don't have a wide enough experience of Puccini alternatives to be able to add anything very worthwhile to this, but I'd love to have a go just because it's Puccini. So I'll just say that I can't conceive of any combination improving on Pavarotti/Freni for _La Boheme_. Those two just seem to have it all sewn up.


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## jhar26 (Jul 6, 2008)

Elgarian said:


> I don't have a wide enough experience of Puccini alternatives to be able to add anything very worthwhile to this, but I'd love to have a go just because it's Puccini. So I'll just say that I can't conceive of any combination improving on Pavarotti/Freni for _La Boheme_. Those two just seem to have it all sewn up.


Definitely. Their recording with Karajan of this work is an all time fave of mine.


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## Elgarian (Jul 30, 2008)

jhar26 said:


> Definitely. Their recording with Karajan of this work is an all time fave of mine.


Yes, yes, they're so good in that recording that I can't conceive of how it could be better.

Except, except ... well, the only competition I could imagine they might have is the competition they provided _themselves_, a few years earlier - with Schippers conducting, in a live broadcast in 1969. They sing with perhaps less of the consummate artistry that came later, but instead they pour out a youthful energy that just blows me away. I found it on the _Opera Today_ website not so long ago, and really loved it. (Unfortunately there's a bit missing from one of the downloadable files, but the recording is available on CD, and I'm tempted to buy one.)

http://www.operatoday.com/content/2007/09/puccini_la_bohm_3.php


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## jhar26 (Jul 6, 2008)

Thanks. Unfortunately act one is missing - but sounds great. I also have a La Boheme with Pavarotti/Freni on DVD. A fave excerpts...


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## Elgarian (Jul 30, 2008)

jhar26 said:


> Unfortunately act one is missing - but sounds great.


I'd forgotten there was so much missing. The files on _Opera Today_ often seem to be a bit of a shambles, but the important thing of course is that you get to hear the material for free, and that can help to make a decision about a CD purchase. At least, that's how I use the website, primarily. I don't think I'm going to be able to resist buying that 69 _Boheme_ indefinitely.



> I also have a La Boheme with Pavarotti/Freni on DVD. A fave excerpts...


I've wondered about buying this, and your nudge will encourage me to do it, I think. It's a lot further on in time, isn't it (1988?) - and at first I wondered if the magic would have faded. But I think it's maybe not so much faded, as just changed. I find it's impossible to watch this performance without remembering their performing history together, and the earlier recording(s) that preceded it - and that mixes in with what I'm actually seeing and hearing, so that watching these extracts becomes almost a kind of celebration. And my goodness, when she (Freni) smiles at the end of 'Si mi chiamano Mimi' ... doesn't it make you just dissolve inside?
Thanks for pointing me in this direction. Lovely stuff.


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## jhar26 (Jul 6, 2008)

Yes - Mirella Freni is adorable. Forever young really. I don't think you will regret it if you buy the DVD. That's almost impossible if you like this opera and these singers.


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## BobR (Nov 3, 2008)

I have a Pavarotti/Freni DVD of Boheme, but it's not the same performance. I bought it because I was confident they were the best in those roles, but in this San Francisco Opera production, Freni's voice wobbles badly, and Pavarotti is not impressive. Perhaps my only disappointing recording of either one of them. 
Renata Tebaldi sang well and then retired. Smart lady. Renata Scotto, on the other hand, did a 25th anniversary performance of Butterfly at the Met that was an embarrassment. I heard it live on radio and had to shut it off. I felt badly for her.
Bryn Terfel is a solid performer, excellent as Scarpia in my Tosca.


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## Atabey (Oct 8, 2008)

Freni,Scotto and of course Callas would do just fine for all.
Pavarotti for La Boheme,Domingo for Tosca,Bergonzi for Butterfly


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