La Bohème

Franco Zeffirelli’s sensational production of Puccini’s haunting opera of young love is one of the great classics in the history of the Met. Many great singers have appeared in it over the years, but there is something especially endearing about this magical first cast: the touching and fragile Teresa Stratas as the dying Mimi, and young, handsome Jose Carreras as her passionate lover, Rodolfo. A flamboyant Renata Scotto is the irrepressible Musetta. James Levine conducts with his special combination of sensitivity and verve.