Eastman Opera stages Italian love story
his spring, Eastman Opera Theatre will bring audiences a rare treat: Giacomo Puccini's love story La Rondine (The Swallow). Sung in Italian on Eastman Theatre's newly renovated stage, performances begin at 8 p.m., Thursday, March 31, and continue through Saturday, April 2, with a matinee at 2 p.m., Sunday, April 3.
Written in 1917, La Rondine is a bittersweet story that focuses on the emptiness and tragedy found in the life of the opera's heroine, the courtesan Magda. As she approaches middle age in Paris during the 1880s, she tries to reclaim her youth, a time when her ambitions and sensibilities yearned for an ideal love and a lasting relationship. Living a comfortable yet somewhat stagnant existence with her current client Rambaldo, she rediscovers her youth through a young student named Ruggero. At a time when the intrigue of her courtesan lifestyle is coming to a close, Magda is unable to release her past.
Eastman Opera Theatre's production, according to Dramatic Director Steven Daigle, tries to enhance the tragedy of Magda's decisions in life and answer the question of what happened to Magda after rejecting the one person she loved.
"A mysterious woman in mourning clothes reflecting on her past shadows our production," says Daigle. "She is Magda some 30 years after the 'real' events of the opera. The set is fragmented in the style of the impressionist Eduardo Manet and at times moves before the audiences' eyes as impressions of her life form and dissolve in the mind of Magda. As she dies, her soul flies like the swallow, a symbol used repeatedly throughout the opera."
La Rondine features two alternating casts of Eastman voice students accompanied by the Eastman Philharmonia, conducted by Benton Hess, music director of Eastman Opera Theatre. Leading the casts are Jennifer Gliere and Aubrie Willaert as Magda; Sarah Howes and Susan Lamberson as Lisette; Cheol Min Jin and Kevin Park as Ruggero; James Barbato and Grant Knox as Prunier; and Sam Haddad and Marc Webster as Rambaldo.
General admission tickets are $15, with discounts available to University ID holders, and are available in advance at the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra Box Office (108 East Avenue), by phone at 454-2100, or online at www.rochester.edu/Eastman/concerts. Tickets also are available at any Rochester-area Wegmans home video department. In addition, tickets may be purchased at the Eastman Theatre box office one hour before each performance.
For those interested in learning more about La Rondine, the Friends of Eastman Opera will sponsor three pre-performance talks that are free and open to the public. Presented by Professor Russell Miller from Eastman's voice department, the talks will be held one hour before curtain time in Room 120 of the Eastman School April 1 to 3.
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