Puccini: Madama Butterfly[2 CD/Blu-ray Audio Combo]

Karajan made two Puccini sets with Pavarotti as Rodolfo (La Bohème) and Pinkerton (Madama Butterfly), with Mirella Freni his love interest in both operas. They were unashamedly de luxe: the casting is uniformly magnificent, with singers of the calibre of Nicolai Ghiaurov (Freni s real-life husband), Rolando Panerai and Michel Sénéchal among the supporting roles.
The glory years of the 1980s and 90s when Pavarotti had become a true superstar lay ahead, but this recording contains some infinitely treasurable singing Pavarotti was a celebrity who d earned his fame, and learned his craft slowly and completely. He was indeed grandissimo in every way.
James Jolly
Extract from Luciano Pavarotti Edition 1: The First Decade