Salzburg Festival 2012: La Bohème
For the first time in its long history, the Salzburg Festival performs Giacomo Puccini’s La Bohème in the Great Festival Hall, offering a unique and rare music highlight. Anna Netrebko wins acclaim yet again in the lead role, giving a “deeply melancholic reading of Mimi”, according to the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. Completing the dream couple she has Piotr Beczala at her side, whose rock-solid tenor voice keeps you with him at every turn.The protagonists are supported by a cheeky Nino Machaidze as Musetta and a strong male ensemble headed up by a resourceful Alessio Arduini. Daniele Gatti conducting the Vienna Philharmonic ensured “shimmering transparency of sound ... And Italian style” (Süddeutsche Zeitung) and “reveals the orchestral sound, bringing the tone colours to full glow” (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung).