Puccini’s La Rondine (The Swallow) exists in three versions, with the final one the least well known, thanks to the destruction of the score and orchestral parts in wartime bombing. Never quite a palpable hit, in the manner of so many other operas by this composer, this work occupies an uneasy position between Viennese operetta and Puccini’s habitual verismo groove, and the varying versions reflect a degree of aesthetic indecision.
In the familiar version the bitter-sweet worldly wisdom of operetta utimately dominates as Magda, the elegant courtesan, decides that her flight south from Paris to the Riviera with her young lover Ruggero has, like the swallow’s migration, a natural conclusion. Here, however, her past comes back to haunt her in the form of an anonymous letter and she is brutally rejected by Ruggero. We are forcibly returned to a set of nineteenth-century operatic conventions and the plot resemblances with La Traviata become ever more striking.
For myself, I prefer the ambiguity of the original, not to mention the additional agency invested in the heroine, which seems more in line with the advanced harmonic language of the music and the habitual modern setting. But Opera Rara have done opera lovers a great service by making this new edition available and recording it too so we can now judge for ourselves.
This concert performance comes on the back of the recording and that immediately showed in the ready rapport, collective energy, sharpness of attack and attention to fine detail on the part of all performers under Carlo Rizzi’s supple and supportive baton. Considerable care went into the placement of the soloists at different points on the stage, and there was more acting, and even some dancing, than is usually possible in this format.
Nevertheless the Barbican Hall, fought back as it often does, when there is a large orchestra and solo singers on stage. From my seat the acoustic balance was highly variable and the singers on the far side of the conductor from me were not always as audible as their voices merited.
However, this is only a small smudge on what was an evening of high-level music making.
Ermonela Jaho is highly experienced in both Verdi and Puccini, and Magda is one of her signature roles. While her voice is not huge, she has the skills to cut through the orchestra when she needs to and the finesse to draw the audience into the many moments of delicacy and refinement in the vocal writing. She has the ability to float and sustain a filament of sound at key moments which is both technically outstanding and emotionally satisfying. The role peaks early with the famous Act 1 aria ‘Chi il bel sogno di Doretta’ where she really did give the impression of composing the aria afresh, as the scenario suggests.
She was well matched by the Peruvian tenor Ivan Ayon-Rivas as Ruggero in the key duets in the later acts and they clearly had a good personal chemistry in their characterisations. Nicola Alaimo took on the role of Magda’s patron and former lover Rambaldo, making the part more sympathetic and understanding than is usually the case; and Ellie Neate, in the secondary soprano role of Lisette, took all the opportunities available for sly comedy and badinage while delivering a solid vocal contribution. It is a virtue of this version that the role of the cynical poet, Prunier, is expanded into a moral touchstone of commentary. Juan Francisco Gatell fully inhabited the comic and empathetic dimensions of the part making him much more than a simple plot device.
The minor parts were all well taken, with Julieth Lozano Rolong making a notable contribution as the embodiment of dawn, warning of the illusions of the night. The BBC Singers brought Bullier’s night club to life very vividly, and it was a rare pleasure to hear the delights of Puccini’s deft orchestration so clearly displayed, not least in the Act 3 prelude evoking the langorous pleasure of the Côte d’Azur that is one of the fresh features of this version.
The recent recording will be broadcast next year on BBC Radio 3, and on the strength of this concert performance it should be a red-letter date for opera lovers.
Barbican Hall
Music: Giacomo Puccini
Libretto: Giuseppe Adami
Opera Rara/BBC Symphony Orchestra & Singers
Conductor: Carlo Rizzi
Cast includes: Nicola Alaimo, Juan Francisco Gattel, Ermonela Jaho, Ellie Neate, Ivan Ayon-Rivas
5 December 2025
2 hrs 10 mins with interval
Photo Credit: Duncan Russell