La Rondine

This week we attended a performance of the seldom presented "La Rondine" by Giacomo Puccini. It was the first time that the San Francisco Opera presented it since 1934. We had never heard it and did not know what to expect.

It turns out that Rondine does not have the great range of dramatic emotion as Tosca or Turandot. It is closer to a Franz Lehar operetta or Broadway musical and that is exactly what Puccini intended. The action takes place in Paris in the early part of the 20th century but it could easily have been Vienna. In this production, the set decoration was strongly influenced by Klimt and the Seccessionist movement.

The sets were beautiful, the singing was wonderful, and the music was Puccini. What more could one ask? The cast was very strong: Angela Gheorghiu as Magda (the lead role), Misha Didyk as Ruggero, Geroard Powers as Prunier, and Anna Christy as Lisette. Joshua Koshman, the critic of the San Francisco Chronicle summed it up well. This opera could not have been given a stronger presentation.

On the whole, Rondine has more to offer than Puccini's "Girl of the Golden West" which has been revived in the last dozen years or so. To our surprise, we had a great evening.