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The Guardian, 16 November 2004 |
By Tim Ashley |
Puccini: La Rondine, ROH, London, November 2004
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La Rondine is something of an oddity among
Puccini's works and many critics, deeming it slight, have dismissed it as
inferior to the rest of his output. It does have its flaws, some of which
can be traced to its awkward, protracted genesis. The work was commissioned
for Vienna in 1914, but its progress was halted by the first world war; the
premiere finally, and controversially, took place in Monte Carlo in 1917.
A work of deep, quiet sadness by a composer primarily associated with grand
passion, it is singular for its tone rather than its quality. Much is made
in the programme of its similarities to Arthur Schnitzler's plays - though a
more useful comparison would be with the operas of Richard Strauss,
Puccini's arch-rival, whose territory he was perhaps trying to invade. Like
Der Rosenkavalier, La Rondine deals with the corrosive effects of time and
truth on the relationship between an older, worldly woman and a younger,
emotionally naive man.
Ideally, it needs a more intimate staging than the one we have here. This
overblown effort by Nicholas Joel is swamped, in part, by a series of heavy
art nouveau sets that hint at emotional entrapment, but give the singers
little room in which to move.
Musically, however, this is superb. The lovers, Magda and Ruggero, are
played by Angela Gheorghiu and Jonas Kaufmann. Gheorghiu, with her dark,
liquid tone, beautifully captures the lonely anguish of a woman who must
"abandon the illusions she's mistaken for life". Kaufmann, making his
long overdue Covent Garden debut, is virile and shy, and sings gloriously.
Of the rest of the cast, only Annamaria dell'Oste, strident as Magda's
maid Lisette, lets the side down a bit. The opera is exquisitely conducted
by Emmanuel Villaume, who flawlessly judges its nuances as sensuality slowly
tips into emotional pain. |
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