La Boheme (Erato): This reproduces the soundtrack for a new film featuring the voice of José Carreras and the body of Luca Canonici, who took over when the Spanish tenor collapsed last summer, suffering from leukemia. He hadn't sung well in a while, but who would know this from a performance so impassioned and detailed that it compensates for the occasional lunging high note and wobbling line?

His Mimi is the American soprano Barbara Hendricks, whose huge following in France is hard to explain listening to singing so mingy and monochromatic, you think you need a hearing aid. Perhaps the film reveals unheard dimensions. Puccini's score is certainly lovingly conducted by James Conlon. His interpretation -- wistful, humorous and spirited -- is a good deal more expressive than Leonard Bernstein's recently released "Boheme" on Deutsche Grammophon.

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