Puccini La rondine
Opera in three acts
Music by Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924)
Libretto by Giuseppe Adami based on a German text by Alfred Willner and Heinz Reichert
Premiere: Monaco, Opéra de Monte-Carlo, 27 march 1917
Puccini Centenary Festival
Magda, a kept woman and heroine of La rondine, entertains a dream of flying like a swallow from her superficial life in mundane Paris across a vast sea, towards the sun and true love. The work was commissioned as an operetta by the Vienna Carltheater but the First World War prevented a production. In the end, the world premiere took place in 1917, in Monte Carlo. The authors were Alfred Maria Willner – who had written two libretti for Franz Lehár – and Hans Reichert. This explains why much of the subject matter resembles Lehár’s stories, but also Die Fledermaus, and most evidently, La traviata. Puccini, however, never intended to write a Viennese operetta. If anything, he wanted to follow Richard Strauss, not Johann. And thus, one of the most memorable elements of his music is the perfumed, sentimental and melancholic waltz. But he also made use of fashionable American dances which were conquering Europe at the time, such as the fox-trot or one-step. These elements tie up La rondine with another famous opera that was premiered at our theatre and which we also present during the 2024/25 season: Ravel’s L’Enfant et les Sortilèges.
Orchestra of Opera Carlo Felice
Giacomo Sagripanti
Music Director at Tbilisi State Opera, the Italian conductor Giacomo Sagripanti is considered one of the most interesting conductors of his generation. He won in 2016 the Opera Awards as Best Young Conductor of the Year, in London. He began his conducting career in Italy and Germany with his debuts at the Festival della Valle d’Itria, Associazione Lirica e Concertistica Italiana and the Lübeck Theatre. He soon caught the attention of houses throughout Europe and has conducted at Semperoper in Dresden (La Cenerentola), Teatro La Fenice in Venice (Madama Butterfly), Opernhaus in Zürich (L’elisir d’amore), Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia in Valencia (Rossini’s Stabat Mater), and in some of the most important festivals (Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro, Arena di Verona), being successful with public and critics. He has a constant symphonic activity, being regularly invited to symphonic seasons of many prestigious orchestras. In January 2016 he had an enormous success conducting Werther at Opéra de Paris jumping in at last moment, then in March he made his debut at the Philharmonic Orchestra of St. Petersburg. He’s constantly present in the biggest opera houses as Opéra de Paris (Il barbiere di Siviglia, La traviata, I Capuleti e I Montecchi, La Cenerentola, Rigoletto, Madama Butterfly, L’elisir d’amore), Royal Opera House in London (La traviata, Don Pasquale), Vienna Staatsoper, Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich, Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow, Teatro Real in Madrid, Liceu in Barcelona, Maestranza in Sevilla, San Carlo in Naples, among others.
Stefano Visconti
Born in Livorno (ltaly) in 1960, Stefano Visconti studied the piano and then choral conducting with Fosco Corti and Roberto Gabbiano, as well as orchestra conducting with Piero Bellugi and Giancarlo Andretta. He was appointed Choirmaster at Opéra de Monte-Carlo in 2007. Before this he was Choirmaster at the Teatro Goldoni, Livorno (1991/2001), Choirmaster at the Opéra-Théâtre d'Avignon (2001/2007), as well as Choirmaster at the Festival Puccini, Torre del Lago (1999/2015). From 1984 to 2001 he conducted the Guido Monaco Polychronic Choir of Livorno which, under his direction, won several national awards (Vittorio Veneto, Arezzo and Florence competitions). In 2000 he founded the Chamber Choir of Tuscany, formed of professionals. He directed the reconstitution of the complete sacred works of Giuseppe Cambini for soloists, choir, and orchestra. Since 2008 he has conducted the chairs of the Sanxay Lyrical Evenings. He is the artistic and music director of the Monte-Carlo Chamber Choir. He has made several recordings with Foné, Agora and Kikko Classics, in particular several of Mascagni's operas (L'amico Fritz, I Rantzau, Lodoletta, Guglielmo Ratcliff, Silvano, Cavalleria rusticana, Iris and Sì). Since 2017 he has directed the coordination of the chairs for the Festival des Chorégies d'Orange.
Pretty Yende
Born in South Africa, Pretty Yende has risen to the top of the opera world with phenomenal speed. Since making her professional debuts at the Latvian National Theatre in Riga as Micaëla in Carmen, she has performed at all of the major international theatres. She made her debuts at the Vienna Staatsoper as Adina (L’elisir d’amore), one of her signature roles that she also performed at the Royal Opera House (London), the New York Metropolitan Opera, the Staatsoper Berlin, the Bayerische Staatsoper (Munich) and the Chorégies d’Orange. She was Violetta (La traviata), another of her favourite roles, at the Staatsoper Berlin, in Munich, Barcelona, Palermo, Hamburg, Naples, Vienna and San Francisco. She was Comtesse Adèle (Le Comte Ory), Rosina (Il barbiere di Siviglia), Lucia (Lucia di Lammermoor), Juliette (Roméo et Juliette), Elvira (I puritani) and Pamina (Die Zauberflöte) at the Met, Rosina, Lucia and Olympia (Les Contes d’Hoffmann) at Opéra de Paris, Micaëla and Susanna (Le nozze di Figaro) in Los Angeles, Fiorilla (Il turco in Italia) in Hamburg, Lucia at the Staatsoper Berlin, Comtesse Adèle and Musetta (La bohème) at La Scala in Milan, Micaëla at the Verona Arena, Massenet’s Manon and Marie (La Fille du régiment) in Vienna. This season, and the next, she will sing Olympia at the Met, Norina (Don Pasquale) in Vienna, Ismene (Mitridate) in Madrid, Lucia in Dresden, Marie in Belluno and Naples, Leïla (Les Pêcheurs de perles) in Florence, the title role of Semele at Covent Garden and the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées (Paris), Leonora (Il trovatore) at the Tiroler Festspiele Erl.
Deanna Breiwick
American soprano Deanna Breiwick, hailed by The New York Times for her “sweet sound and floating high notes” and for being a “vocal trapeze artist,” is enjoying an exciting and diverse career. In the 2023/24 season, she returned to the Dallas Opera for the world premiere of Gene Scheer and Jody Talbot’s The Diving Bell and the Butterfly. In concert, she sang Lisette in La rondine with Washington Concert Opera. In the 2022/23 season, she made her debut at San Francisco Opera, performing Sister Constance in Dialogues des carmelites. She returned to Bayerische Staatsoper (Munich) for Adele in Die Fledermaus, and made debuts at the Gran Teatre del Liceu as Drusilla in L’incoronazione di Poppea and at the Atlanta Opera as Cunegonde in Candide. As an ensemble member of the Bayerische Staatsoper for the 2021/22 season, she performed Nannetta in Falstaff and Oscar in Un ballo in maschera, among others. She also returned to the Metropolitan Opera in New York as Najade in Ariadne auf Naxos, debuted with Seattle Opera as Amore in Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice, and portrayed Bradamante and Pittura in Il palazzo incantato by Luigi Rossi at the Opéra national de Lorraine in Nancy and the Royal Opera of Versailles. At the Metropolitan Opera, Deanna Breiwick has been featured as la Charmeuse in Thaïs, a Flower Maiden in Parsifal, a Shadow in Nico Muhly’s Marnie. As an ensemble member of Opernhaus in Zürich, she has performed a variety of roles. She has made several returns as a guest, as Drusilla in L’incoronazione di Poppea and the title role of Mark-Anthony Turnage’s Coraline, among others.
Charles Castronovo
Acclaimed internationally as one of the finest lyric tenors of his generation, Charles Castronovo has performed at many of the world’s leading opera houses including the Royal Opera House in London, Opéra national de Paris, Metropolitan Opera inNew York, Staatsoper in Vienna and Berlin, Teatro Real in Madrid, Deutsche Oper in Berlin, Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona, San Francisco Opera and Lyric Opera of Chicago among others. This season 2024/25 Charles Castronovo returns to the stage as Le Chevalier des Grieux in Manon for his house debut at Palau de les Arts in Valencia. On the operatic stage, Castronovo’s season is marked with a series of role reprisals across the world’s leading stages. He returns to Opernhaus Zürich and Bayerische Staatsoper (Munich) as Riccardo in Un ballo in maschera, to Opéra national de Paris as the title role of Don Carlos, and to Royal Opera House as Don José in Carmen. Castronovo will close the season at Bayerische Staatsoper as Carlo in I masnadieri. On the concert stage, he performs the tenor part in the Verdi’s Requiem under the baton of Daniel Harding with the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia (Rome). Born in New York and raised in California, Charles Castronovo began his career as a resident at Los Angeles Opera. He was then invited to join the Metropolitan Opera’s Lindemann Young Artists Development Program, and in 1999 he made his Metropolitan Opera debut as Beppe in the opening night performance of Pagliacci opposite Plácido Domingo.
Juan Francisco Gatell
Acclaimed as one of the most interesting tenors among his generation, Argentinian Juan Francisco Gatell’s voice has been called luminous, seductive, elegant, and agile, his acting dramatic and sensitive. He has appeared on opera and concert stages throughout Europe and in North and South America. His most recent appearances were in Zaide (Gomatz) at Teatro dell’Opera in Rome, Il barbiere di Siviglia (Almaviva) at the Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro and Falstaff (Fenton) at Palau de Les Arts in Valencia. His Almaviva was acclaimed at the Royal Opera House in Muscat (Oman), in Buenos Aires and in Vienna, his Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni in La Scala in Milan, Washington, Tokyo or Beijing, his Fenton in Falstaff in Los Angeles, Parma and Valencia and his Ferrando in Così fan tutte in Madrid, Florence and Brussels. His recordings include: on DVD, Tybalt in Roméo et Juliette at the Salzburg Festival, Don Pasquale conducted by Riccardo Muti, Il viaggio a Reims at La Scala and Il barbiere di Siviglia in concert with the Rossini Opera Festival; on CD, Otello with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra conducted by Muti, which won the 2014 International Opera Award, Don Pasquale conducted by Muti and Pagliacci recorded live at the Teatro Carlo Felice in Genoa. Born in La Plata, Argentina, Juan Francisco Gatell began his musical studies in his hometown before continuing his training at the Conservatorio Arturo Soria in Madrid.
Roberto de Candia
Roberto de Candia studied singing with Lajos Kozma and Sesto Bruscantini. In 1990 he won the “Adriano Belli” Competition in Spoleto, then he began an outstanding international career, performing regularly in the world’s leading opera houses and festivals. After his debut at Teatro alla Scala in Milan, in Gluck’s Armide (1996), he performed there in several other productions, including La forza del destino (Melitone) conducted by Riccardo Muti. In 1998 he had his debut in Manon at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, where he was invited back many times, the last one for Cyrano de Bergerac in 2017. His remarkable performances include Falstaff in Madrid, Tokyo, Rome, Los Angeles, Brussels; Gianni Schicchi at Deutsche Oper in Berlin; Figaro in Il barbiere di Siviglia in Paris, Tokyo and Vienna. His latest successes include Leporello (Don Giovanni) at Teatro La Fenice in Venice, Dulcamara in L’elisir d’amore at Teatro Regio in Parma, Paolo Albiani in Simon Boccanegra at Teatro alla Scala in Milan, Don Bartolo in Il barbiere di Siviglia at Semperoper in Dresden.
Marta Pluda
Born in 1997, Marta Pluda began studying singing at the age of 17 under the guidance of her mother, Donatella Gallerini, later perfecting at the Accademia del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino in the two-year period 2016/18. There she took part in productions such as Didone abbandonata by Leonardo Vinci (recorded on CD and DVD by Dynamic), La traviata, Rigoletto, Il barbiere di Siviglia, Madama Butterfly, La rondine and Suor Angelica. She sang the role of Angelina in La Cenerentola at Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino in Florence, at the Teatro Massimo in Palermo and at the Auditorium Toscanini in Turin with the Orchestra Sinfonica della RAI. She attended the Accademia di Belcanto in Martina Franca, making her debut at the Festival della Valle d’Itria in Coscoletto and Robinson Crusoé by Jacques Offenbach. She perfected her Rossini repertoire at the Accademia Rossiniana in Pesaro and made her debut at the Rossini Opera Festival as Marchesa Melibea and Maddalena in Il viaggio a Reims. She was also invited to the Rossini Opera Festival to sing Elisabetta regina d’Inghilterra, Tancredi and at the Gala Rossini with Juan Diego Flórez. In 2022 she was Angelina in La Cenerentola, for the As.Li.Co./Operadomani tour in Como, Bergamo, Milano, Brescia, Parma, Pavia, Macerata. In 2023 she returned to the Rossini Opera Festival as Publia in Aureliano in Palmira and made her debut at the Arena di Verona as Kate Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly and in Wexford as Isabella in L’italiana in Algeri and la Ciesca in Gianni Schicchi.
Valentina Corò
Born in Venice, Valentina Corò graduated in Opera Singing from the Benedetto Marcello Conservatory in Venice and simultaneously in Economics and Management from Ca' Foscari University. She later specialized at the Mozarteum University in Salzburg and at the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow. She was a member of the Accademia del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino (Young Artists Program 2020/2022). She has taken part in the lyric seasons at Teatro La Fenice in Venice, Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino in Florence, Teatro Alighieri in Ravenna, Teatro Grande in Brescia, Teatro Mario Del Monaco in Treviso, Teatro Olimpico in Vicenza, Teatro Claudio Abbado of Ferrara, Teatro Comunale of Rovigo, Teatro del Titano of San Marino, Teatro Verdi in Mantova, and Mozarteum University, among others. She won the Galliano Masini Prize at the 2022 Voci Mascagnane competition, the First Prize at the 2019 Tullio Serafin International Emerging Voices Competition, and the Renata Tebaldi Prize presented by the Renata Tebaldi Foundation. She made her debut as Rosaura in Mascagni’s Le maschere in Livorno and she will be performing at La Fenice in La traviata.
Aleksandrina Mihaylova
In 2016, at the age of just 17, Aleksandrina Mihaylova auditioned for Raina Kabaivanska to take part in her XVII International Masterclass at New Bulgarian University. This was followed by a further five years of masterclasses at the NBU and the Conservatorio di musica “Vecchi Tonelli” in Modena. In 2021, competing against 430 candidates from all over the world, the Bulgarian soprano was awarded a place among the winners of the Competition of the Academy for Young Opera Singers of La Scala in Milan where she specialized for two years. Between 2016 and 2021 Aleksandrina was awarded scholarships by the Raina Kabaivanska Fund at New Bulgarian University. Among other awards she has won prizes at the Otto Edelmann, Ghena Dimitrova, Premio Etta e Paolo Limiti competitions. She debuted on the opera stage in 2021 at the Sofia Opera and Ballet as Liù in Turandot. In 2022 she made her debut at La Scala in the title role of Pierangelo Valentignoni’s The Little Prince. In 2023 she portrayed Musetta in La boheme on the stage of the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino in Florence. The young singer has also participated in many concerts, the highlights of which include: La bohème in 2019 at the Teatro Filarmonico of Verona, a concert with Thomas Hampson and the Sofia Philharmonic Orchestra in the Bulgaria Hall in 2021, and the Serata Belcanto concerts with artists from the Kabaivanska School at the Accademia di Santa Cecilia in Rome, and at the Opéra-Bastille in Paris in 2023.
“It is an absolute joy and privilege for me as an artist to have the pleasure of giving voice to the remarkable compositions of Giacomo Puccini. An absolute treasure in the Italian repertoire and one of the most exciting discoveries for me has been one of his quotes where he talks about how God dictated Madama Butterly to him and allowing himself to be merely instrumental in getting it on paper. That resonated a lot with me as I truly believe that my gift is from God and I’m just His entrusted instrument to share with all souls under the sun. Very excited for my debut in La rondine as well as Mimì in the near future…an exciting beginning for my journey with Puccini.”
The action takes place during the Second Empire, in Paris and on the Côte d’Azur
Act I
An elegant salon in the Parisian home of Magda.
Magda de Civry, young mistress of the rich banker Rambaldo Fernandez, is giving a cocktail party. The conversation turns to the subject of love. Magda’s friends scoff at the poet Prunier and his theories about love: for him love is a moment of madness. Lisette, Magda’s maid, tells him he doesn’t know what he is talking about. Annoyed at this he sings his song about Doretta, a young girl who was pursued in her dreams by a king who offered her all his riches in return for her love (Prunier’s Romance “Chi il bel sogno di Doretta potè indovinar”). But Prunier does not know how to finish his song. Magda improvises a second verse, which tells how Doretta discovers true love in the arms of a student. Rambaldo considers such passion a sign of weakness. He offers Magda a pearl necklace which she casually accepts.
The arrival is announced of Ruggero Lastouc, a young friend of Rambaldo, who is passing through Paris. Magda’s friends are envious of the generous gifts her lover gives to her, but she replies that money does not bring happiness. She remembers the tender romance she once shared with a young student whom she had met at Bullier’s, a Paris nightspot (Magda’s Aria “Ore dolci e divine”). Rambaldo returns with his guest, the son of a childhood friend, who has brought him a letter from his father. Prunier reads Magda’s palm and tells her she is like a swallow and that her destiny is to fly away to the sunny south where she will find true love. Ruggero, who is on his first visit to Paris, is overjoyed at the prospect of discovering the nightlife there and asks where he would have a good time (Ruggero’s Aria “Parigi è la città dei desideri”). They advise him to go to Bullier’s. Magda decides to join him there, dressed as a working girl. She is unaware that Lisette has also gone there, wearing her mistress’s clothes and accompanied by her lover who is none other than Prunier (Duet Lisette/Prunier “T’amo!... Menti!”).
Act II
Bullier’s
Everyone is dancing and having fun, except Ruggero who is bored. Magda arrives. She tells him her name is Paulette. They are immediately attracted to each other (Duet Magda/Ruggero “Posso chierdervi una grazia? / Perchè mai cercate”). Prunier et Lisette arrive. Lisette thinks she recognises her mistress who is dancing with Ruggero, but Prunier, who has sized up the situation, tells her she is mistaken. The two couples sit at the same table and drink a toast to love (Quartet with chorus “Bevo al tuo fresco sorriso”). Lisette confesses that she has borrowed some of Magda’s clothes and jewellery. Then Rambaldo arrives suddenly and unexpectedly. Magda becomes very upset and asks Ruggero to move away to the corner. She decides to confront Rambaldo and tell him that she has found true love.
Act III
A small house on the Côte d’Azur. In the distance swallows are flying in the sky.
Magda and Ruggero are living happily together, far from Paris. Ruggero tells her that he has asked his mother to consent to their marriage (Ruggero’s Aria “Dimmi che vuoi seguirmi”). Magda knows that having been Rambaldo’s mistress prevents her from marrying Ruggero. She listens with great sadness as he tells her how happy they will be. Ruggero leaves her. Magda is torn between her desire to confess the truth and her fear of hurting him.
Prunier and Lisette enter. After trying her luck as a cabaret singer Lisette asks her former mistress to take her back, which Magda willingly does. When Lisette has left Prunier reveals to Magda the true reason for his visit, that Rambaldo’s feelings for her have not changed and that her place is with him. Ruggero returns with his mother’s reply. She consents to his marriage with Magda if she is good, pure and gentle. Unable to keep up the pretence, Magda reveals her past to him, telling him that she can be his mistress but never his wife, and that would prevent them from being happy together. Ruggero protests, he would do anything to keep her with him (Duet Magda/Ruggero “Figliuolo tu mi dici / Ma come puoi lasciarmi”). He begs her in vain to stay with him. They are both in despair, but Magda returns to her old life, supported by Lisette.
In October 1913, while in Vienna attending performances of La fanciulla del West, Puccini was commissioned by the Carltheater to compose an operetta, for which he would be paid a handsome fee. The composer wasn’t over-enthusiastic, and he refused the first project presented by Heinz Reichert and Alfred Willner where musical numbers were inserted in the middle of spoken dialogues. Instead he imagined a comic opera with continuous music, without numbers, in the style of Richard Strauss’s Der Rosenkavalier, but “more amusing”. Reichert’s and Willner’s second proposition was more acceptable, and he entrusted Giuseppe Adami with the task of writing the Italian version of their libretto, even though the Carltheater’s commission had stipulated that the operetta would be in German.
In April 1914 a contract was signed with the sponsors whereby they would retain the rights for German-speaking countries, Spain and South America, and assign the rights for the other territories to Puccini’s regular editor, Tito Ricordi. However, Ricordi did not agree to this and declined the work. Puccini turned to another Milanese editor, Lorenzo Sonzogno, who agreed to the terms of the contract.
These administrative hassles, amplified by Italy’s entry into war, delayed the work that was already under way. At the end of 1913 Puccini had already composed two acts, but a few months later he was overcome by doubt. Although in the meantime he had begun composing Il tabarro (The Cloak, the first of the trio of operas known as Trittico), he lacked the inspiration to write La rondine. Less than hopeful about the outcome of the project, he tried, in vain, to rescind the contract. It was only in April 1916 that the score was completed. As the hostilities had set a good part of Europe ablaze, it was decided to organize the premiere in neutral territory, which is why the Opéra de Monte-Carlo was chosen.
The first performance took place on 27th March 1917, with Gilda Dalla Rizza (Magda), the young Tito Schipa (Ruggero), Ines Maria Ferraris (Lisette), Francesco Dominici (Prunier) and Gustave Huberdeau (Rambaldo), under the direction of Gino Marinuzzi. It was a huge success. The Italian premiere took place on 2nd June the same year at the Teatro Comunale di Bologna, with Toti Dal Monte and Aureliano Pertile in the leading roles. This time, however, the public was not very enthusiastic. Never again would La rondine experience the success of its premiere in Monaco.
Claire Delamarche, translated by Mary McCabe
There are several reasons for the limited success of La rondine, the main one, undoubtedly, being the ambiguity of the score. If we take a look at Puccini’s operas, the most striking aspect is, usually, their coherent structure. “The difficulty consists of beginning an opera, i.e. of finding its musical atmosphere, he admitted to Adami. “Once the beginning is underway and written, there is nothing more to fear.” However, La rondine struggled to decide on a theme: on one side, a tragic love story reminding us of Verdi’s La traviata or Massenet’s Sapho (the courtesan finds true love but her notorious past stands in the way of her happiness); on the other side, dancing and transvestism, as in Richard Strauss’s Der Rosenkavalier, or Die Fledermaus by Johann Strauss II. Stylistically, the work is divided between flights of lyricism in the pure tradition of Italian melodrama (Magda’s arias “Chi il bel sogno di Doretta” and “Ore dolci e divine”), and hastily portrayed scenes that follow the rhythm of the conversation. It fluctuates between highly noble feelings (like Violetta in La traviata, the courtesan Magda shows her generosity of spirit by renouncing her love), and a nonchalance that becomes apparent between the couple formed by the maid Lisette (who dreams of becoming an actress) and the poet Prunier. All of this, in the style of Viennese operettas, against a backdrop of dances: omnipresent waltzes, of course, but also popular rhythms of the day, such as the one-step, the fox-trot or the tango.
However, we have here a score that is fresh, elegant and inspired. The lyricism that is so specific to the Toscan composer, with its opulent colours, lavish melodies, its tenderness, blends with the genteel refinement of the Parisian salons, as was the case previously in Manon Lescaut. Caught up in a whirlwind of waltzes, Act II is the most frenzied, reaching a height of intensity with the entrance of the quartet – worthy of the sextet of Lucia di Lammermoor (Donizetti) or the grand Verdian ensembles.
Conceived during the turmoil of WWI, La rondine exudes a perfume of a bygone world, without the savage novelty of the works to come, the Trittico and Turandot. Nonetheless, benefitting from the experience of La fanciulla del West (1910), the orchestra is interwoven with bold harmonies – parallel chords, non-defined dissonances, modality, pentatonicism, and bitonality elements, even (particularly at Lisette’s entrance). The orchestra plays a major role, displaying a series of motifs that, as usual with Puccini, reappear regularly, associated either with an atmosphere or with characters such as Magda and Lisette.
La rondine remains a unique star in Puccini’s firmament. The composer himself was not overly convinced by his work. As a result he produced two revised versions: the first, in 1918-1919, transferred the tenor, Prunier, to a baritone, and Lisette’s tessitura was made higher. In addition, Ruggero acquired a romance in Act I (“Parigi è la città dei desideri”), and Prunier’s role was reinforced by two new appearances in Act III. This version received a cool welcome at the Teatro Massimo in Palermo on 10th April 1920, then at the Volksoper Wien on 9th October the same year, and failed to impose itself.
The second revised version, in 1921, was largely a repeat of the first version: Prunier’s role was transferred back to the tenors. However, Puccini changed the ending: it was now Ruggero who, informed by an anonymous letter about Magda’s past, harshly rejected her. This version remained unfinished and was only premiered on 22nd March 1994 at the Teatro Regio di Torino, the missing parts reconstructed by Lorenzo Ferrero.
Claire Delamarche, translated by Mary McCabe
Galerie photos
