Puccini loved Paris. That much is clear from Giacomo Puccini’s opera set among its struggling artists, “La Boheme.” But he adored that town so much that he returned to it 20 years later for “La Rondine,” which is even more of a valentine to the city – and to love — than “La Boheme.”
But it’s much harder to find a production of “La Rondine” than “La Boheme,” and that alone makes Minnesota Opera’s season-opening staging well worth considering. After attending Saturday’s first performance, I can add that you may never experience a more skillfully crafted interpretation of the opera than this. Boasting strong singing throughout the cast and an exquisitely executed concept and design, this is grand opera done grandly, full of spectacle, sweet to the ears, and overflowing with emotion.
Completed in 1917, “La Rondine” can come off like a fusion of “La Boheme” and Giuseppe Verdi’s “La Traviata,” what with the Parisian party feel of the former and much of the basic conflict within the latter: the romance of a naïve young man from the country and a far less innocent woman of the city. (Thankfully, no one gets tuberculosis, so “La Rondine” has a much lighter feel than either of those predecessors.)
While no audience member walks out of an opera humming the concept, Minnesota Opera’s production filled me with admiration for how thoroughly director Octavio Cardenas and his creative team thought through what they wanted to do with this work. They’ve constructed it as the wistful yet rueful reminiscences of its central character, a “kept woman” who considers abandoning a life of luxury in favor of love and poverty. Each act is framed by her wandering through a black-and-white palette that bursts into color as her memories come to life.
And that love of Paris is everywhere. The big bay window of the first act holds an impressionist portrait of the Cathedral of Notre Dame. The second act’s bustling bar is bursting with flamboyant joie de vivre. Even when we leave it, we still find fun-loving folk who carry a little Paris with them. Sara Brown’s meticulously appointed sets, Montana Levi Blanco’s detailed circa-1910 costumes and Joshua Higgason’s eye-catching projections combine to sweep you up in a love letter to the city.
But it’s also a love letter to love, and the principal singers make that equally palpable. As Magda, the high society mistress of a powerful Parisian, Irish soprano Celine Byrne proves the ideal match for Puccini’s demanding arias. The composer asks for several soft upper-register entrances, and Byrne made each swoon-inducing with her impeccable control and tenderness. As her new love, Leonardo Capalbo proved endearing in his infatuation and passionately stormy when his dreams started to unravel.
As a more comical secondary couple, Christian Sanders and Lisa Marie Rogali can be a bit over-the-top at times, as if director Cardenas may have thought the action too static without some big gestures and mugging. But they sing the roles well and certainly offer memorable characterizations.
While conductor Sergio Alapant and the Minnesota Opera Orchestra play Puccini’s music to heart-tugging effect, there were too many instances when I felt that they were overpowering the singers. Or that the singers (particularly Capalbo) were forced to really belt lines out at maximum volume that might have been more effective with a softer, more intimate approach.
Yet that’s a rare shortcoming in a production full of fun, elegance, love and, eventually, heartache. It does both Puccini and Paris proud.
If You Go
What: Minnesota Opera’s “La Rondine”
When: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday
Where: Ordway Music Theater, 345 Washington St., St. Paul
Tickets: $200-$25, available at 612-333-6669 or mnopera.org
Capsule: A city of love and lights; an opera sweet to the ears, eyes and heart.
