In Johanna Doderer's Fatima, oder von den mutigen Kindern, the courageous Fatima defeats the evil Lord of the Castle in a wager and frees the dreams that he has held captive. Drawing on a story by Rafik Schami, Johanna Doderer created this children's opera in 2015 to fulfill a commission from the Vienna State Opera. Austrian composer Johanna Doderer studied composition with Beat Furrer and then later in Vienna with Klaus Peter Sattler and Erich Urbanner. Her catalogue ranges broadly from chamber music to orchestral work and operas. Presently, she is focusing her work in the field of opera. She regularly collaborates with musicians such as Patricia Kopatchinskaja, Sylvia Khittl-Muhr, and conductor Ulf Schirmer. Her works have been performed at the Austrian Embassy, Washington, D.C., and the University of Arts Graz.

[I]t is good to be reminded how fine this RCA set is of La bohème... I had forgotten just how persuasive Solti's conducting is here, not just how forceful. He may start with all the speed and brilliance of Toscanini—though allowing Domingo and Milnes plenty of time to breathe and to enunciate words—but the warm Italianate expressiveness is then what strikes home, in Act I reaching a culmination in superb accounts of the two arias plus the duet from Domingo and Caballé, both in expansive, radiant voice. Domingo's heroic forthright view of "Che gelida manina" contrasts perfectly with the delicate, finely detailed, tenderly expressive singing of Caballé in "Si, mi chiamano Mimi", leading to enchanting exchanges in the final duetting of "0 soave fanciulla"... It will take a very special version to oust this from first place on the CD list.

-- Edward Greenfield, Gramophone [9/1986]

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Montserrat Caballé sings Mimì exquisitely, and Domingo’s gloriously sung Rodolfo is most appealing. Milnes is a likeable Marcello – he makes more of the role than many baritones do – and Judith Blegen a colourful Musetta.

-- Charles Osborne, BBC Music Magazine