Stars can elevate their team to overcome all obstacles, and sometimes not, as we found out in Sunday afternoon’s NCAA women’s basketball championship final. Shortly after the game, for those who made it to GW’s Lisner Auditorium, the remainder of the afternoon was enlivened by superstar soprano Ailyn Perez who upped the game of a Puccini opera still trying to find its way home. She, along with an excellent cast overall, backed by Conductor Antony Walker and the Washington Concert Opera Orchestra and Chorus, made it an evening and an opera to remember.
Ailyn Perez as Magda in WCO’s La Rondine. Photo by Caitlin Oldham; courtesy of Washington Concert Opera.
La Rondine (1917, The Swallow) is a three-act opera by composer Giacomo Puccini, working with librettist Giuseppe Adami for the first time. This was a period of experimentation for Puccini. There was much going on in the world: composers were changing the face of music and operetta had become the rage; WWI broke out in Europe, delaying the opera’s premiere. Puccini’s personal life had suffered a tragic loss. La Rondine was his second opera after Madama Butterfly, and there would be an output of one act works in 1918 before his unfinished Turandot in 1926. In 1910, a Viennese opera company wanted Puccini to compose an operetta; instead, he agreed to compose a comic opera, lighter in nature. This work, La Rondine, was not well received in its day nor when first produced in the US; it languished in relative obscurity for many years. A popular version by the New York City Opera in 1984 and more recently it’s championing by soprano Angela Gheorghiu and tenor Roberto Alagna has led to a revival of interest, appearing occasionally in current day. In fact, a version staring soprano Angel Blue and tenor Jonathan Tetelman is playing this month at the Metropolitan Opera.
Mario Chang as Ruggero and Ailyn Perex as Magda, backed by Conductor Antony Walker and the WCO Orchestra and Chorus. Photo by Caitlin Oldham; courtesy of Washington Concert Opera.
To understand the issues raised with La Rondine, it’s helpful to know the plot. The opera begins in the Paris of the 1830s, similar to Puccini’s La Bohème, but in a salon for the wealthy, not a tenement for starving artists. Magda is maintained in a lavish house by her benefactor, Rambaldo, whose company she enjoys though he is not a love interest. Her poet friend, Prunier is musing that romantic love has returned to Paris, and she approves, while Rambaldo still considers true love tired. Now, a kept woman, Magda remembers a chance meeting she had years ago with a young man who stirred deeper feelings within her. A stranger arrives, Ruggero, son of a friend of Ramboldo’s and his first time in Paris. The guests advise him to spend his first night in Paris at Bullier’s café/dance hall. Prunier has fallen in love with Magda’s maid Lisette and they head to the café. Magda declines attendance but then sneaks out in a rudimentary disguise to join them for some free time and a night of fun. There she encounters Ruggero, who does not recognize Magda from the earlier encounter at the salon; she gives her name now as Paulette. Both are smitten and their love blossoms in the festive scene at the café. They run off to Nice to live for love, while their debts pile up (friends say Magda has flown south for love like a swallow, a la the title). Ruggero wants to marry her and move to his hometown, even getting approval in a letter from his mother, but Magda fears her past as Rambaldo’s mistress, which she has not revealed to Ruggero, will ruin their chances for happiness (yes, it does remind one of Verdi’s La Traviata). After confessing her past, Magda returns to Paris and Ramboldo to save Ruggero from such a fate, leaving Ruggero, who desparately wants to stay together, distraught and feeling abandoned; Prunier early in the opera stated pain and heartache were the price of love.
Mario Chang as Ruggero and Ailyn Perez with Conductor Antony Walker. Photo by Caitlin Oldham; courtesy of Washington Concert Opera.
Never satisfied with the ending of La Rondine, Puccini wrote two more endings before his death in 1924. The plot gets caught somewhere between a drawing room comedy in the first two acts, fine for an operetta, and a lovers’ tragedy in act 3, fine for an opera. The drawing room comedy seems a little drawn out, even with comedy brought to the stage by Prunier and Lisette’s antics. It’s not a tragedy since Magda does not off herself; she simply goes back into Rambaldo’s care. I was left uncertain how I felt about the characters. Did Magda spare her young lover or was she sparing herself? Love of what was exacting a price? WCO of course presents operas in concert style without costumes, sets, or full staging. While the concert format has much to recommend it, I feel La Rondine is an opera that needs the costumes and staging to communicate the times and ethos of the drawing room comedy, demonstrating the depth or shallowness of the characters and to make the Lisette-Prunier sparing more fun.
Jonathan Johnson as Prunier and Deanna Breiwick as Lisette. Photo by Caitlin Oldham; courtesy of Washington Concert Opera.
The questions raised by the plot aside, Puccini’s music is highly enjoyable, beautiful melodies with lush orchestrations and many gorgeous arias for the singers, solo and in ensembles. For this work, Puccini even used some dance rhythms at times. As is usual, Conductor Antony Walker and the WCO Orchestra did a fine job of delivering the music, accenting its beauty, and keeping pace with the vocalists. At times, I had the feeling of listening to an outstanding orchestra in the big band era. The WCO Chorus under the direction of David Hanlon added expertly to the fun, coming in at the beginning of Act 2 to elicit the gaiety of the café.
Javier Arrey as Rambaldo and Ailyn Perez as Magda. Photo by Caitlin Oldham; courtesy of Washington Concert Opera.
The cast was headlined by Met Opera stars soprano Ailyn Perez and tenor Mario Chang. Mr. Chang has a hefty resonant tenor that compels one to want to hear him more often. I would love to see him in a fully staged performance where he is looking into Ms. Perez’ eyes, rather than at the score. Ms. Perez, thy voice is beauty! I had not heard Ailyn Perez in person before, even though she has connections to the area; this international star soprano was once a Young Artist at Wolf Trap Opera. Her voice is enchanting and her singing of the opera’s main hit aria, “Canzone di Doretta”, was transcendent.
Jonathan Johnson as Prunier, the poet, and friends of Magda’s, Natalie Conte as Bianca, Tess Ottinger as Yvette, and Melanie Ashkar as Suzy. Photo by Caitlin Oldham; courtesy of Washington Concert Opera.
The roles of Lisette and Prunier were sung by soprano Deanna Breiwick and tenor Jonathan Johnson, young singers who have performed at major opera houses around the US. Ms. Breiwick sang well and gave us a convincing cheeky maid with dashed aspirations and a winning heart. Mr. Johnson’s bright tenor displayed well in several arias and gave us a reasonably convincing poet, pretentious and exacting in love. Both of these young performers appear headed for greater things. Rambaldo was played by a now international opera star and a local favorite, baritone Javier Arrey whose voice adds color to any performance. He gave Magda’s companion, Rambaldo, a softer edge, more likable. I couldn’t help but wonder if the storyline would have been aided by having Mr. Arrey play Prunier and Mr. Johnson play Ruggero, giving us a more worldly wise Prunier and a more youthful lover for Magda to abandon. Playing Magda’s friends and adding to the fun were soprano Tess Ottinger, soprano Natalie Conte, and mezzo-soprano Melanie Ashkar.
With La Rondine, I feel Puccini provided the melodious music and the showcase roles for excellent singers to display their wares for this opera to be a hit, but in the end, had trouble knocking down the three-point shot to win the game, to return to my basketball analogy. For a “comic opera, lighter in nature”, I would have preferred a happy ending or at least one more bittersweet than bitter. That said, WCO with this cast, headed by Ms. Perez made for an exceptional performance.
The Fan Experience: Washington Concert Opera performances are typically one and done, and for me, are always a highlight of the opera season. La Rondine was performed on April 7 in Lisner Auditorium. The opera was performed in concert style and sung in Italian with English surtitles on an overhead screen.
WCO has announced their productions for the 2024-2025 season which is expanded to three operas instead of their normal two: Puccini’s Manon Lescaut on November 24, Mozart’s La clemenza di Tito on March 1, and Verdi’s Luisa Miller on April 13. WCO Executive Director stated in her pre-opera comments that Lisner Auditorium would be upgrading their seats over the summer, more legroom for the orchestra section and more comfort for all.
Peter Russell, General Director of Vocal Arts DC, presented a pre-opera talk and provided program notes. His talks are impressively detailed and informative.
In my experience, all the seats in Lisner Auditorium are fine for viewing the performance, but the sound is probably better towards the center of the auditorium. Parking on the street around the auditorium is catch as catch can; be sure to read the signs! Metro is two blocks away. WCO has a visitor web page with directions and parking info, helpful in finding nearby parking lots.