La Rondine - Schedule, Program & Tickets

Even today, the swallow is considered a minor composition by Puccini; accused of superficiality and banality, it is still among his least performed works. According to some critics, the work was the victim of a great deal of misunderstanding that hindered the path that should have led it to success. It was originally commissioned as an operetta by a Viennese theater, but it never saw the light in this capacity and even if the whole story is littered with a slight irony, aimed at characters in sight like D'Annunzio or Richard Strauss ( evoked by a flickering quote from Salome), Rondine has nothing to do with the operetta, nor does it target the massive presence of dancers. Think first of all about the ubiquitous waltz, to which Puccini bestowed a veritable apotheosis in the heart of the second act, but also in all those modern dances of which the work is woven, from fox-trot to one-step up to tango and still others. From the musical point of view The swallow appears as a light score but of graceful elegance: the musical discourse is fluid, with subtle and very refined notations. The waltz predominates throughout the work, but in Puccini's hands it loses its meaning of carefree joy and conquers a tenderly sensual tone. The harmonic language is complex also thanks to a very fine instrumentation that often saves the melodic speech from certain easy effects.

Subject to change