Giacomo Puccini: La Boheme (Decca)

Odd choice, this, for opera's dream team, Roberto Alagna and Angela Gheorghiu; they won plaudits by the bucket-load for Puccini's La Rondine, but the competition among Bohemes is stiffer than a case of rigor mortis in Siberia. Still, a new opera set is a rare event these days, and if Gheorghiu's Mimi is a bit on the steely side, and Alagna's Rodolfo a tad querulous (witness his extraordinary fit of the shrieks in the final scene), the old war-horse creates its familiar magic, with the La Scala orchestra under Riccardo Chailly giving the score an opulent whirl, and baritone Simon Keenlyside turning in an irresistibly charming Marcello.

Arminta Wallace