[Met Performance] CID:146230
La Bohème {406} Metropolitan Opera House: 12/2/1947.
(Review)
Metropolitan Opera House
December 2, 1947
LA BOHÈME {406}
Mimì....................Claudia Pinza
Rodolfo.................Jan Peerce
Musetta.................Frances Greer
Marcello................Frank Valentino
Schaunard...............Hugh Thompson
Colline.................Nicola Moscona
Benoit..................Melchiorre Luise
Alcindoro...............Melchiorre Luise
Parpignol...............Lodovico Oliviero
Sergeant................Lawrence Davidson
Conductor...............Pietro Cimara
Review of Francis D. Perkins in the Herald Tribune
"La Bohème" Sung
Claudia Pinza Takes Role as Mimi at Metropolitan
Claudia Pinza, who made her debut at the Metropolitan Opera House two weeks ago as Micaela in "Carmen," sang her first Mimi in this theater in last night's performance of Puccini's "La Bohème." Her interpretation of the role was competent from a vocal and histrionic point of view; she sang with satisfactory volume, and the quality of tone was usually pleasing, especially in a warm-hued lower register. In the top notes, there was some slight spreading of the tone in the first act; this was seldom noticeable in the third, in which the young soprano's singing was generally commendable, apart from a mild hardness of the tonal timbre in a few of the most outspoken notes.
The performance, a benefit for the scholarship fund of the Smith College Club of New York, was the second which "La Bohème" has had at the Metropolitan this season. Jan Peerce, not in his best voice in the first act, fared otherwise very creditably as Rodolfo; Frances Greer's Musetta was vivacious and, at times, somewhat shrill in the uppermost tones in the Cafe Momus scene; Francesco Valentino, as Marcello, Hugh Thompson as Schaunard and Nicola Moscona as Colline were Rodolfo's companions in his Parisian garret.Melchiorre Luise doubled as Benoit and Alcindoro for the first time here; his performance in the latter character was effective, but with a possible excess of gesture. Pietro Cimara conducted