Puccini: La rondine (1921 final version) BBC Symphony Orchestra, BBC Singers & Carlo Rizzi

• Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924): La rondine (1921 version) Act 1:
• 1 Puccini: La rondine (1921 version), Act 1 Ah! no! no! / Non dite questo! (Yvette, Bianca, Suzy, Prunier, Magda, Lisette, Rambaldo) 04:48
• 2 Puccini: La rondine (1921 version), Act 1 Chi il bel sogno di Doretta (Prunier, Magda) 02:29
• 3 Puccini: La rondine (1921 version), Act 1 Aria Chi il bel sogno di Doretta (Magda, All) 02:31
• 4 Puccini: La rondine (1921 version), Act 1 No... Adesso non burlatemi (Magda, Périchaud, Crébillon, Gobin, Rambaldo, Yvette, Prunier) 02:20
• 5 Puccini: La rondine (1921 version), Act 1 Un momento: scusi, ecco (Lisette, Rambaldo, Magda) 01:14
• 6 Puccini: La rondine (1921 version), Act 1 Come fate a sopportarla? (Prunier, Magda, Bianca, Yvette, Suzy) 01:15
• 7 Puccini: La rondine (1921 version), Act 1 Denaro! Nient’altro che denaro (Magda, Bianca, Yvette, Suzy) 06:06
• 8 Puccini: La rondine (1921 version), Act 1 E poi? / Basta, e finito (Yvette, Magda, Bianca, Suzy, Prunier) 02:11
• 9 Puccini: La rondine (1921 version), Act 1 Che uomo difficile (Yvette, Bianca, Prunier, Magda, Suzy, Rambaldo, Ruggero) 02:16
• 10 Puccini: La rondine (1921 version), Act 1 Forse, come la rondine (Prunier, Magda, Rambaldo, Ruggero) 01:24
• 11 Puccini: La rondine (1921 version), Act 1 Poeta raffinato, dite un po’ (Rambaldo, Prunier, Lisette, Yvette, Bianca, Suzy, Gobin, Crébillon, Ruggero) 01:54
• 12 Puccini: La rondine (1921 version), Act 1 Le Bal Musard! / A Frascati! (Yvette, Bianca, Suzy, Lisette, Magda, Rambaldo, Prunier, Périchaud, Crébillon, Gobin) 02:20
• 13 Puccini: La rondine (1921 version), Act 1 Forse, come la rondine (Magda) 01:16
• 14 Puccini: La rondine (1921 version), Act 1 Duet T’amo! / Menti! (Prunier, Lisette) 03:54
• 15 Puccini: La rondine (1921 version), Act 1 Chi mi riconoscerebbe? (Magda) 01:52
• Giacomo Puccini: La rondine (1921 version) Act 2:
• 16 Puccini: La rondine (1921 version), Act 2 Presto! Presto! / Fiori freschi (Chorus) 02:05
• 17 Puccini: La rondine (1921 version), Act 2 Chi e? Mai vista! (Young men, Magda) 02:10
• 18 Puccini: La rondine (1921 version), Act 2 Scusatemi... Scusate (Magda, Ruggero) 02:44
• 19 Puccini: La rondine (1921 version), Act 2 Nella dolce carezza della danza (Magda, Ruggero, Prunier, Lisette, Chorus) 01:45
• 20 Puccini: La rondine (1921 version), Act 2 Deh! scendi dall’Olimpo! (Chorus, Magda, Ruggero, Prunier, Lisette) 02:38
• 21 Puccini: La rondine (1921 version), Act 2 Che caldo! Che sete! (Magda, Ruggero) 02:40
• 22 Puccini: La rondine (1921 version), Act 2 Perché mai cercare di saper (Magda, Ruggero, Chorus) 02:52
• 23 Puccini: La rondine (1921 version), Act 2 Dio! Lei! (Lisette, Prunier, Ruggero, Magda) 02:42
• 24 Puccini: La rondine (1921 version), Act 2 Quartet A chi impera sul mondo... Bevo al tuo fresco sorriso (Ruggero, Magda, Lisette, Prunier, Chorus) 04:00
• 25 Puccini: La rondine (1921 version), Act 2 Rambaldo! / Ah! Maiutate (Prunier, Magda, Lisette, Rambaldo, Chorus) 02:15
• 26 Puccini: La rondine (1921 version), Act 2 Nella trepida luce dun mattin (Distant voice) 01:20
• 27 Puccini: La rondine (1921 version), Act 2 Paulette!... Mia Paulette (Ruggero, Magda) 02:20
• Giacomo Puccini: La rondine (1921 version) Act 3:
• 28 Puccini: La rondine (1921 version), Act 3 Prelude 03:47
• 29 Puccini: La rondine (1921 version), Act 3 Ah! / Il nostro nido e nido di baci! (Magda, Ruggero) 03:04
• 30 Puccini: La rondine (1921 version), Act 3 Chi ce? / Chi e la (Magda, Ruggero, Roro, Mariette, Fleury) 01:37
• 31 Puccini: La rondine (1921 version), Act 3 O mia povera cara (Ruggero, Magda) 01:45
• 32 Puccini: La rondine (1921 version), Act 3 Dimmi che vuoi seguirmi alla mia casa (Ruggero) 02:03
• 33 Puccini: La rondine (1921 version), Act 3 Che piu dirgli?... Che fare? (Magda) 01:38
• 34 Puccini: La rondine (1921 version), Act 3 E qui? / Non so! (Lisette, Prunier) 03:43
• 35 Puccini: La rondine (1921 version), Act 3 No! Non m’inganno! (Lisette, Prunier, the Butler, Magda) 03:35
• 36 Puccini: La rondine (1921 version), Act 3 Finalmente! / E una donna felice (Lisette, Prunier, Magda) 02:37
• 37 Puccini: La rondine (1921 version), Act 3 Che volete da me? (Magda, Rambaldo) 03:16
• 38 Puccini: La rondine (1921 version), Act 3 Amore mio! / No! taci! (Magda, Ruggero) 01:56
• 39 Puccini: La rondine (1921 version), Act 3 Non maledire, ascolta (Magda, Ruggero, Lisette) 05:11
• Giacomo Puccini: La rondine (1919 version), Act 1 Aria Chi il bel sogno di Doretta (Prunier, Magda, All):
• 40 Puccini: La rondine (1919 version), Act 1 Aria Chi il bel sogno di Doretta (Prunier, Magda, All) 05:15
• Giacomo Puccini: La rondine (1919 version), Act 1 Duet T’amo! / Menti! (Prunier, Lisette):
• 41 Puccini: La rondine (1919 version), Act 1 Duet T’amo! / Menti! (Prunier, Lisette) 04:43
• Giacomo Puccini: La rondine (1919 version), Act 2 Quartet Ed ora bevo allamore (Prunier, Magda, Ruggero, Lisette):
• 42 Puccini: La rondine (1919 version), Act 2 Quartet Ed ora bevo allamore (Prunier, Magda, Ruggero, Lisette) 03:43
• Giacomo Puccini: La rondine (1919 version), Act 3 Amore mio!... Mia madre! (Ruggero, Magda, Prunier):
• 43 Puccini: La rondine (1919 version), Act 3 Amore mio!... Mia madre! (Ruggero, Magda, Prunier) 09:50
• Giacomo Puccini: La rondine (1921 version), Act 1 Aria Chi il bel sogno di Doretta (Magda, All) (Concert version):
• 44 Puccini: La rondine (1921 version), Act 1 Aria Chi il bel sogno di Doretta (Magda, All) (Concert version) 03:06
• Total Runtime 02:08:10

Info for Puccini: La rondine (1921 final version)

For the first time, hear what could be regarded as Puccini's definitive version.

Premiered in Fiume in April 1924, Puccini’s final 1921 version of La rondine offers the most opulent and tragic version of this beloved opera. Puccini substantially reworked the key ensembles in the familiar 1917 version and composed new music for Acts One and Three, culminating in a violent denouement in which Ruggero abandons the heartbroken Magda.

Carlo Rizzi conducts the world-premiere recording of the complete 1921 version. Ermonela Jaho stars as Magda, with Iván Ayón-Rivas as her lover Ruggero and Nicola Alaimo as her patron Rambaldo. Juan Francisco Gatell and Ellie Neate complete the main cast as Prunier and Lisette. Mattia Olivieri joins to sing extracts from the 1919 version, in which the role of Prunier was written for a baritone.

Premiered on 27 March 1917 at the Grand Théâtre de Monte Carlo, Puccini’s La rondine took a long time to reach the place it now holds in the operatic repertoire. From its premiere onwards, it was frequently dismissed as an operetta, with Puccini never truly happy with the version of the opera we know well today. Derived from his 1921 vocal score, his third and final version differs markedly from the 1917 version. Opera Rara has now restored and created a performing edition of his final version and has recorded the complete third version, with new material from the second version included in an appendix.

The story continues…

These two later versions of Puccini’s La rondine were long thought to be unperformable in their complete form – the orchestral score of the second version was missing and the orchestral score of the third lost in a fire at the publisher Sonzogno’s offices during WWII. However, under the supervision of Opera Rara’s Artistic Director, Carlo Rizzi, the restoration and reconstruction of all versions of the opera will be undertaken by musicologist Ditlev Rindom, editor of Ricordi’s new critical edition of the opera, working in collaboration with Martin Fitzpatrick, who has recreated Puccini’s orchestration in those passages in which it is missing. With significant musical and dramaturgical changes, both later versions of La rondine contain superb music by the mature Puccini: music that is completely unknown to modern listeners. Together the two versions offer a new perspective on a work that has now established itself as firmly part of the Puccini canon. Opera Rara presents a rare opportunity to hear totally unknown music by a major opera composer in his prime.

Ermonela Jaho, soprano (Magda de Civry)
Iván Ayón-Rivas, tenor (Ruggero Lastouc)
Juan Francisco Gatell, tenor (Prunier)
Ellie Neate, soprano (Lisette)
Nicola Alaimo, baritone (Rambaldo Fernandez)
BBC Symphony Orchestra
BBC Singers
Carlo Rizzi, artistic director

Carlo Rizzi
holds a long-standing reputation as one of the world’s foremost operatic conductors, in demand as a guest artist at the world’s most prestigious venues and festivals. Equally at home in the opera house and the concert hall, his vast repertoire spans everything from the foundation works of the operatic and symphonic canon to rarities by Bellini, Cimarosa and Donizetti to Giordano, Pizzetti and Montemezzi. Combining a deep expertise in the vocal art with theatrical flair and the practical collaborative skills honed over decades of experience in the world’s finest theatres, he is acclaimed by singers and audiences alike as a master of the operatic craft.

Born in Milan, Rizzi studied at the city’s conservatoire, and following his graduation was employed as a repetiteur at the legendary Teatro alla Scala. He launched his conducting career in 1982 with a production of Donizetti’s L’ajo nell’imbarazzo, and has now performed over a hundred operas, with a broad repertoire that is rich in Italian works in addition to the major titles of Mozart, Wagner, Strauss, Britten, Mussorgsky, Martinů and Janáček.

Since 2019 Rizzi is Music Director of Opera Rara, the UK-based company devoted to resurrecting and returning to the repertoire undiscovered and undervalued works from opera’s celebrated and neglected composers, and since 2015, he has been Conductor Laureate of the Welsh National Opera, following his tenure as Music Director (1992-2001 and 2004-8) during which he was widely credited with overseeing a dramatic increase in the company’s artistic standards and international profile.

He also has held long- standing relationships with the Teatro alla Scala, the Royal Opera House Covent Garden and the Metropolitan Opera in New York, and his career has seen him leading numerous productions at the most distinguished operatic addresses. Rizzi is also critically acclaimed as a symphonic conductor with distinguished orchestras around the world including Halle, the London Philharmonic, the Filarmonica della Scala, Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, the Netherlands Philharmonic, Orchestra i Pomeriggi Musicali, Netherlands Radio Philharmonic, Bergen Philharmonic, Hungarian National Philharmonic, Orquestra Simfònica de Barcelona i Nacional de Catalunya, Hong Kong Philharmonic, Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg, Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, and the orchestra of the National Arts Centre, Ottawa.

In the 26/27 season he records Mercandante’s ‘Il Campo de’ Crociati’ with Opera Rara, returns to the Rossini Opera Festival, Pesaro, to lead a new production of Le Siege de Corinthe, opens the Staatsoper Berlin’s season with Spontini’s La Vestale, leads a new production of Puccini’s Edgar at Teatro Regio di Torino, and returns to the Metropolitan Opera New York for Cherubini’s Medea, to Opernhaus Zurich for Tosca, and to the New National Theatre Tokyo for Macbeth.

Highlights of recent seasons have included returns to the Metropolitan Opera to conduct Turandot and Madama Butterfly, Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette at Teatro Real Madrid, Respighi’s La Fiamma (Deutsche Oper Berlin), Rigoletto and Turandot (Wiener Staatsoper), La Boheme (Bayerische Staatsoper), Il Trittico (Opera National De Paris) and Il Trovatore (Royal Opera House, Covent Garden). Symphonic appearances include performances with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Bruckner’s Symphony No. 7 with the Welsh National Opera Orchestra, concerts with the National Symphony Orchestra (Dublin), Orchestra Sinfonica Siciliana, and the Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia. As part of the BBC Proms series, Rizzi closed the season conducting the Welsh National Opera Orchestra at the Bristol Beacon. With Opera Rara, Rizzi performed and recorded the newly restored final 1921 version of Puccini’s La Rondine with the BBC Symphony and completed (as pianist) their project to record Donizetti’s complete songs.

Carlo Rizzi’s extensive discography includes complete recordings of Gounod’s Faust, Janáček’s Katya Kabanova (in English), and Verdi’s Rigoletto and Un ballo in maschera, all with Welsh National Opera. He appears on a Deutsche Grammophon CD and DVD of Verdi’s La Traviata, recorded live at the Salzburg Festival with Anna Netrebko, Rolando Villazón, and the Vienna Philharmonic. He has also recorded numerous recital albums with renowned singers including Joseph Calleja, Juan Diego Flórez, Edita Gruberová, Jennifer Larmore, Ernesto Palacio, Olga Borodina, and Thomas Hampson. His recordings for Opera Rara include Mercadante’s Il proscritto (2023), Leoncavallo’s Zingari (2022), a pair of Gramophone Award–nominated discs with Joyce El-Khoury and Michael Spyres, and the 2024 release of Donizetti’s L’esule di Roma, which received widespread critical acclaim. In the same year, Signum Records released his album of Puccini’s complete symphonic works, featuring world-premiere recordings of his own orchestral suites from Tosca and Madama Butterfly, conducted with the Welsh National Opera Orchestra. Rizzi has also recorded symphonic works by Bizet, de Falla, Ravel, Respighi, and Schubert with major orchestras including the London and Netherlands Philharmonic.

Shortlisted as a finalist for ‘conductor of the Year’ in the 2024 International Opera Awards, Rizzi was also awarded the honour of ‘Grande Ufficiale’ (Grand Officer) of the ‘Ordine della Stella d’Italia’ (Order of the Star of Italy) for his commitment and contribution to promoting Italian music and culture internationally.

Booklet for Puccini: La rondine (1921 final version)