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Conductor
Emmanuel
Villaume
Director
Nicolas Jokl
Set
Designs
Ezio Frigerio
Costume
Designs
Franca Squarciapino
Lighting
Vinicio Cheli
Magda
Katie van
Kooten
Lisette
Annamaria
Dell'Oste
Ruggero
Jonas Kaufmann
Prunier
Kurt Streit
Rambaldo
Robert Lloyd
Pirichaud
Jonathan
May
Gobin
James Edwards
Cribillon
Jared Holt
Yvette
Victoria
Nava
Bianca
Jacqueline
Miura
Suzy
Eirian James
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Royal
Opera
Covent Garden
12 - 26 November 2004 |
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For many
years, La
Rondine
was one of the least known
of Puccini's operas, having
met a harsh reception from
critics at its Italian premiere.
And yet a short time earlier,
in March 1917, its world premiere
in Monaco was positively received.
One can perhaps see why the
Riviera atmosphere suited
the work (its third act is
set there) for it is not grand
opera - it is more akin to
operetta, although Puccini's
magical way with the orchestral
writing in particular gives
it more emotional substance
than that word would suggest.
Hence when the stellar couple
Alagna and Gheorghiu took
it up some years ago, the
resulting EMI recording (brilliantly
conducted by Pappano) claimed
a place in many opera lovers'
affections and won deserved
awards.
The central story is simple:
at the start, we find Magda
in the Paris salon of the
wealthy banker Rambaldo with
others in his circle. She
is his mistress, attractive
but compromised by that status
and by her advancing years.
Ruggero, the son of an old
friend of Rambaldo, turns
up unexpectedly - the young
man turns heads with his dashing
good looks and enthusiasm
for the delights of Paris.
In Act 2, both Magda (supposedly
in disguise) and Ruggero find
themselves in the same cafi/dance
hall - they rapidly fall for
one another. In Act 3, having
lived together for some months
in a Riviera hotel, reality
catches up with them: Ruggero's
hopes that they will marry
are dashed by Magda's awareness
that her chequered past makes
her unsuitable to be his wife.
Off she flies, the "swallow"
of the opera's title.
The third act was the disappointment
in this revival at Covent
Garden, despite the green
and turquoise stained-glass
conservatory setting which
drew a round of applause as
the curtains lifted. The act
stands or falls by the two
leads: here, debutante Katie
van Kooten (standing in for
Gheorghiu who sang in the
run's other performances)
was basically too young to
make Magda's self-sacrifice
convincing, and Jonas Kaufmann
did not seem a sufficiently
good actor to flesh out the
two-dimensional Ruggero. Both
have strong but not overwhelmingly
beautiful voices (hers rather
fluttery, his lacking the
last degree of flexibility
and purity) - not quite enough
to sustain the music's would-be
transition from the lighter
style of the first two acts
to something more serious.
Hence post-interval proceedings
came across as surprisingly
flat and conventional, after
the altogether more inspiring
first two acts - ironic given
that Act 1 centres around
mere society chatter, Act
2 around cafi-style waltzes.
But Puccini's achievement
in these acts is comparable
with that of Richard Strauss
in Rosenkavalier, Arabella
or even Capriccio. Conversation
in particular is set to music
of such flowing invention
that the discourse is heightened
and seems to say more about
the subtleties of relationships
between human beings than
one would believe from the
mere words: passing moments
of emotion and humour are
underpinned and intensified
by gorgeous fleeting modulations,
harmonies and orchestral felicities
that tug the heart-strings
but are gone in the same second.
It was done very well indeed
by the ensemble and the orchestra
under Emmanuel Villaume. The
aural richness was complemented
by the glamorous art-nouveau
sets, with glittering Klimt-inspired
wall friezes and mosaic-clad
columns, and by the attention
to detail in the costumes
and direction.
The look of the production
did nothing to dispel the
sense that Richard Strauss
was somewhere behind all this,
although the sound-world is
certainly less Viennese than
Italian (that typical lush
harmonic quality that has
made itself felt through the
twentieth century, down to
the film scores of The Godfather
or Cinema Paradiso). However
the prevalence of waltz time
music, the fact that the centerpiece
of Act 1 is - Rosenkavalier/Capriccio-style
- the song-within-an-opera
written and sung by the tenor,
Prunier, then reprised and
completed by Magda, not to
mention the ultimate theme
of the older woman renouncing
her future with a beloved
younger man, all made one
wonder how consciously Puccini
was seeking to emulate Strauss's
success in this kind of musical
theatre.
The answer came towards the
end of Act 1: who should come
up in conversation but...
Salome. Sure enough, the reference
was accompanied loud and clear
in the orchestra by the famous
four note motif from Strauss'
opera: an affectionate wink
by the 59 year-old Italian
in the direction of his 53
year-old Bavarian colleague.
A nice moment in generally
a very good evening.
Nicholas Armstrong |
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