La Rondine remains the sleeper among Puccini’s mature works. Not only did it have a troubled gestation – working on a commission for a Viennese theatre was a tad awkward once Italy was at war with Austria – but opera houses have never really embraced it. The problem is not the score, which teems with charm and melody, but the dramatic stakes, which remain stubbornly low. Where Bohème, Butterfly and Tosca are seldom off the boil, La Rondine rarely rises above a simmer. That said, Antonio Pappano and the London Symphony Orchestra made an especially compelling case for it, Pappano’s evident affection for the music coming across in every turbocharged bar of this heartfelt and detailed performance.
The story of Magda, a Parisian courtesan who flees to the French Riviera with her provincial lover to circumvent bourgeois disapproval, is on the slight side. When she plucks up the courage to tell the young man about her past, their parting is more resignation than fireworks, although the music does rise to the challenge. Other high points include an achingly memorable duet in the second act and the radiant aria Chi il Bel Sogno di Doretta?, famous for its appearance in the Merchant Ivory film A Room With a View.
