La Bohème, Act I: "O soave fanciulla"
Manon Lescaut, Act II: "Tu, tu, amore? Tu?"
Tosca, Act I: "Mario!" - "Son qui!"
Tosca, Act I: "Ah, quegli occhi!" - "Qual occhio al mondo"
La Fanciulla del West, Act I: "Mister Johnson, siete rimasto indietro"
La Fanciulla del West, Act I: "Quello che tacete"
Il Tabarro, Act I: "O Luigi! Luigi!"
Madama Butterfly, Act I: "Viene la sera"
Madama Butterfly, Act I: "Bimba dagli occhi"
Madama Butterfly, Act I: "Vogliatemi bene"
La Bohème, Act I: "Che gelida manina"
Tosca, Act III: "E lucevan le stelle"

As I've speculated many times, I firmly perceive that within the classical music planetary system, opera is a vast world all its own. In order to appreciate all of its nuances, one has to probe deeply below its surface, and peel away all of its many facets before ever understanding it all on a critical level. Because I've spent all of my life listening to orchestral, choral and instrumental music, and still discovering new material, I could never find the time necessary to give opera the attention it deserves. And that explains why reviews of opera recordings on this website are few and far between.

Once in a while though, it feels great to take the time to listen to some of the greatest opera arias ever written as is the case here with a collection of some of the best love duets by Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924), performed with lyrical finesse and dramatic expression by German opera singer Jonas Kaufmann, along with the infallible paticipation of opera heroines Anna Netrebko, Sonya Yoncheva, Maria Agresta, Malin Byström and Asmik Grigorian. The Orchestra of the Teatro Comunale in Bologna is conducted by Asher Fisch. As an extra bonus, two of Puccini's top solo tenor arias, Che gelida manina from La Bohème, and E lucevan le stelle from Tosca, both from previous recordings have been included.

In my opinion, what makes Puccini the greatest opera composer of all, is his profoundly immutable Italian persona. Is there anything in music more Italianate than "E lucevan le stelle"? And Italian being the language of love, with its expressive and cantabile character lends itself perfectly to dramatic inflection and passionate performance. As Jonas Kaufmann himself explains "The buttons he pushes with his music still work, a hundred years after his death - and do so in a modern society that is completely jaded from an endless flood of bad news and experiences. Much has been written about Puccini, but as I see it, no one has ever yet been able to explain how he managed to evoke such unbelievably powerful emotions with just a few notes. That is a mystery that probably no AI in the world can comprehend."

There will never be another Giacomo Puccini. His felicitous and emotive connection to the listener through the power of music will never be duplicated. So, if like me your attention is focused elsewhere, take the time to listen to these operatic gems. This gripping collection of arias may very well be spark that ignites an operatic fire.