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BAZ LUHRMANN
Original Cast Recording of Baz Luhrmann's Production
of Puccini's La Boheme on Broadway (DreamWorks)
Reviewed by Holly Day
Few people will dare contest (me) that the best operas come from Italy, and
of Italian opera composer of the past 200 years, Giacomo Puccini stands far
out from his contemporaries - which, I suppose, makes him among the best
writers of opera of the 19th and 20th century. His strength came from not
only his breathtakingly beautiful musical compositions, but in his
amazing ability to create a real story that was tied together by those
compositions. La Boheme is an excellent example of that genius: the story of
a group of crazy-in-love Bohemians living in 1840's Paris, struggling with
poverty, idealism, and eventually, death. This particular production is the
brainchild of Australian Baz Luhrmann, who brought the opera back to the
stage to reintroduce it to a new generation of theater aesthetes, and just
from listening to the soundtrack alone, I'd say he must have done so to
wildly excited and appreciative audiences, because this is truly beautiful.
© 2003 - Holly Day
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