Opera Review: The Easy Life in Paris

La Rondine returns to the Metropolitan Opera.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

She loves...lamp? Kristine Opolais is Magda in the Met's La Rondine.
Photo by Ken Howard © 2013 The Metropolitan Opera.

Composed during World War I and premiered in 1917, Puccini's La Rondine ("The Swallow") has always struggled to find its perch in the repertory. Perhaps it's the work's cheerful appropriation of waltzes from both Strausses (German and Austrian) to serve an Italian libretto. The glittering Paris backdrop, inhabited by rich, cynical bourgeois is an obverse to the pain of La Bohème. Finally, the libretto, ignores operatic conventions of murder and revenge for an ordinary tragedy; it's La traviata without death.

Monday night's performance at the Metropolitan Opera showed that Rondine is a noble work, full of lush, hummable melodies, genuine comic warmth and jarring human drama in the final act. Ion Marin led a pointed, detailed performance that brought out the high points in this short but intensely packed score, the bright energy of the opening, the waltz rhythms in the second act and the light, delicate orchestration that accompanies the tragic denouement.

As Magda (the migrating "swallow" of the opera's title) Kristine Opolais displayed tremendous potential in a role that marks her house debut. The aristocratic Latvian soprano has a smallish instrument, wielded needle-like to create a sympathetic portrait of the courtesan who has to choose between true love with the country-born Ruggero (Giuseppe Filianoti) and the easy life in Paris as a courtesan. (She picks the latter.) Ms Opolais supplanted her instrument with her acting. In Act III, she made the audience realize that Magda's decision, while heartbreaking, was essentially the correct one.

Opera's "Love Couple" Calls it Quits

Roberto Alagna, Angela Gheorghiu announce divorce.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Better days: Robert Alagna (l.) and Angela Gheorghiu as Ruggero
and Magda in Puccini's La Rondine.
Image © 2009 The Metropolitan Opera.

Tenor Roberto Alagna and soprano Angela Gheorghiu, whose 1996 marriage catapulted both singers to operatic stardom, have announced their "imminent" divorce after 16 years of marriage.

The report comes from an interview the soprano gave with the news agency Mediafax.

"We have decided to divorce by mutual agreement and in perfect friendship," Ms. Gheorghiu said. (Her remarks are translated here from the French.)

The Alagna-Gheorghiu story begins at Covent Garden, when the singers met in a performance of Puccini's La bohème.  They played Rodolfo and Mìmi. She was a divorcée and he was a widower with one daughter.

 In April of 1996, they were performing the same roles at the Metropolitan Opera, marking Mr. Alagna's house debut. Ms. Gheorghiu had bowed in La bohème in 1993.

On April 27th, the singers arrived at a gala concert celebrating James Levine's 25 years at the Metropolitan Opera. They had been married that day. They celebrated by singing "Suzel, buon di" by Pietro Mascagni, (also known as the "Cherry Duet" from L'Amico Fritz) and brought down the house. The marriage was blessed by then-Mayor of New York City, Rudolph Giuliani.

When the Trojan Breaks

Casting changes in Les Troyens, Comte Ory.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

A wanderer no more: Marcello Giordani has announced he will cancel the four remaining Troyens
appearances and remove the role of Enée from his repertory.
Photo by Cory Weaver © 2012 The Metropolitan Opera.

It's Saturday morning with the Christmas holiday right around the corner. And that means it's time to write about under-the-radar cast changes at the Metropolitan Opera.

According to a report published by our friends at parterre box (and sourced from the Met press office) Marcello Giordani has dropped out of the current revival of Les Troyens. The Italian tenor (whose other Berlioz operas at the Met have included the title roles in Benvenuto Cellini and La Damnation de Faust will "retire" the role of Enée from his repertory.

The exciting news: Mr. Giordani's replacement in this five-hour Berlioz-a-thon is tenor Bryan Hymel, a promising American tenor who just finished a Covent Garden run in Meyerbeer's Robert le Diable. The performances affected are Dec. 26 and 29, Jan. 1 and Jan. 5, which is the Live in HD broadcast of the opera.