This piece of fluff by Puccini is his least successful opera but is hugely enjoyable as a star vehicle for Angela Gheorghiu and Roberto Alagna. It is a sort of Traviata-lite. Magda, a glamorous courtesan, remembers a blissful encounter with a student when she was young and innocent. Later she goes to a bar and meets Ruggero, an impoverished young man. They escape to Nice together but Magda knows that it cannot last because of her dubious past. La rondine, the swallow, returns to her rich protector.
The opera is filled with characteristically Puccinian music, although the only well-known number is the famous Sogno di Dorabella. Angela Gheorghiu performs this beautifully right at the start of the opera. She wears a tight-fitting, bejewelled red dress, which may have been diaphanous or that may just have been my fervid imagination. Roberto Alagna is a good match for her as Ruggero. He seems recently to have developed a new, darker tone to his lyrical tenor voice.
There are two soprano-tenor pairings in the opera, the other being Lizette, Magda's maid and Prunier, a poet. The most important thing for this pair to remember is not to upstage the star couple. This can be difficult. Lisette is a cheeky little maid, rather like Adele in Die Fledermaus. The last time I saw La Rondine, the Lisette was so good I left thinking she should have swapped roles with the soprano singing Magda. Lisette Oropesa, here, pitches her performance diplomatically just one notch below Angela Gheorghiu. There is no danger that Marius Brenciu's Prunier will upstage Roberto Alagna. Also on uncharacteristically croaky form is Samuel Ramey as the sugar daddy Rambaldo.
I saw an interview with Angela Gheorghiu recently in which she explained that she dislikes playing intimate scenes with her husband Roberto Alagna because it is tantamount to inviting the audience into their bedroom. Well there are no bedroom scenes in this production but it provides a perfect vehicle for this star couple, which is perhaps why they have done so much to rescue this opera's reputation in recent years. The production is visually stunning with an art deco set which advances the opera's period from mid-19th century to early 20th. If all else fails, the Met audience like to clap the sets. Well there was plenty to applaud in this spectacular production.
The opera is filled with characteristically Puccinian music, although the only well-known number is the famous Sogno di Dorabella. Angela Gheorghiu performs this beautifully right at the start of the opera. She wears a tight-fitting, bejewelled red dress, which may have been diaphanous or that may just have been my fervid imagination. Roberto Alagna is a good match for her as Ruggero. He seems recently to have developed a new, darker tone to his lyrical tenor voice.
There are two soprano-tenor pairings in the opera, the other being Lizette, Magda's maid and Prunier, a poet. The most important thing for this pair to remember is not to upstage the star couple. This can be difficult. Lisette is a cheeky little maid, rather like Adele in Die Fledermaus. The last time I saw La Rondine, the Lisette was so good I left thinking she should have swapped roles with the soprano singing Magda. Lisette Oropesa, here, pitches her performance diplomatically just one notch below Angela Gheorghiu. There is no danger that Marius Brenciu's Prunier will upstage Roberto Alagna. Also on uncharacteristically croaky form is Samuel Ramey as the sugar daddy Rambaldo.
I saw an interview with Angela Gheorghiu recently in which she explained that she dislikes playing intimate scenes with her husband Roberto Alagna because it is tantamount to inviting the audience into their bedroom. Well there are no bedroom scenes in this production but it provides a perfect vehicle for this star couple, which is perhaps why they have done so much to rescue this opera's reputation in recent years. The production is visually stunning with an art deco set which advances the opera's period from mid-19th century to early 20th. If all else fails, the Met audience like to clap the sets. Well there was plenty to applaud in this spectacular production.
