It was a trip to Vienna in 1913 that served as the inspiration for Giacomo Puccini’s La rondine ( " The Swallow " ). The directors of the city’s famous Karl Theater offered the master of bel canto a generous commission to write a Viennese operetta, one that would intersperse music and spoken dialogue, in the style of Johann Strauss and Franz Lehár. Puccini accepted the fee but was skeptical about the operetta form. He preferred to write " a comic opera, like [Richard Strauss’s] Rosenkavalier but more amusing and more organic. "
When the work was finished, in 1916, it bore scant resemblance to operetta or to anything written by a Strauss. Aside from some waltzes in its second act, there isn’t even much in La rondine that bespeaks a Viennese influence. By that time, however, Italy and Austria were bitter enemies on the battlefield, so perhaps that wasn’t such a bad thing.
In any case, Rondine is a light, airy comedy that takes place in France in the 1850s. Magda is the mistress of the wealthy banker Rambaldo; one afternoon when they’re entertaining friends at their salon, the conversation turns to romantic love. That evening, Magda dresses up as a shop girl and goes to the popular nightspot Bullier, the site of a passionate flirtation many years ago. There she meets Ruggero, the son of a childhood friend of Rambaldo. After dancing a spirited waltz, they fall madly in love. At the moment of their first kiss, they’re recognized by Magda’s maid, Lisette, and Lisette’s poet lover, Prunier, both of whom try to conceal Magda’s true identity from Ruggero.
Soon after, Rambaldo arrives at Bullier, finds Magda, and demands that she explain herself. She tells him she’s found true love; he’s devastated. Ruggero writes to his parents asking permission to marry; his mother agrees on condition that Magda has been " virtuous. " Magda then reveals her tainted past, telling Ruggero that she cannot enter his respectable family. Ruggero begs her to remain, but she insists on returning to her former way of life.
La rondine has never made its way into the standard repertory; it remains the most neglected of Puccini’s mature operas. The third act is widely acknowledged to be one of the composer’s weakest creations. And the music is restrained and delicate, with little of the forthright passion that infuses Tosca and Madama Butterfly. The opera is best known for the first-act aria, " Chi il bel sogno di Doretta, " which was used to good effect in the soundtrack to the Merchant Ivory film version of A Room with a View. Yet La rondine hardly deserves its near-century of neglect. There are some striking duets for Magda and Ruggero, The gentle character of the music allows Puccini to find some imaginative scoring and novel instrumental combinations. And the act-two waltzes prove his mastery of the Viennese idiom, operetta or no operetta.
All of which makes the prospect of the upcoming Boston Lyric Opera production especially enticing. BLO music director Stephen Lord conducts, and the cast includes soprano Pamela Armstrong as Magda and tenor Shawn Mathey as Ruggero. Colin Graham directs; the set is by John Conklin. Performances at the Shubert Theatre, 265 Tremont Street in the Theater District, are March 26 and 28 at 7:30 p.m., March 30 at 3 p.m., April 1 and 4 at 7:30, April 6 at 3, and April 8 at 7:30. Tickets range from $32 to $152. Call (800) 447-7400.
BACH AND BEYOND: Collage New Music offers a typically unusual program featuring world-premiere performances of works by Richard Cornell and Andy Vores. That’s on March 30 at 7:30 at Harvard University’s Paine Hall, in the North Yard (behind the Science Building). Tickets are $20; call (617) 325-5200. On the more familiar side: the Handel & Haydn Society conducted by John Finney presents a program of " Bach miniatures, " including the Missa Brevis in A. Performances are March 28 at 8 p.m. at Jordan Hall, 30 Gainsborough Street, and March 30 at 3 p.m. at Sanders Theatre, 45 Quincy Street in Harvard Square. Tickets go from $28 to $56; call (617) 266-3605.
