Opera Bites: Puccini's 'La Rondine' has wistful charm in story of love and money

On Saturday, the high-definition broadcast from the Metropolitan Opera will be Giacomo Puccini's "La Rondine." The performance, which will take place at the Town Plaza Cinema, begins at noon. The encore presentation will be at 7 p.m. Jan. 21.

For many years, "La Rondine" was rarely staged. In his book about Puccini, William Ashbrook gives a possible explanation: "The libretto of 'La Rondine' reads like the plot of an early Garbo movie and ... it needs an early Garbo to put it over."

The Met may just have found that woman in soprano Angela Gheorghiu. She is not only astonishingly beautiful, but she can sing with clarity and charm. Her husband, Roberto Alagna, will be singing the roll of Ruggero; he is the man Magda — Gheorghiu's character — rejects at the end of the opera. This new production is an art deco setting of the opera, and it is gorgeous.

The setting of the opera is Paris in the 1920s. As Act I begins, Rambaldo and his mistress, Magda, are giving a party. The guests discuss the current Paris fashion of romantic love and have some disagreements about it. Rambaldo gives his mistress a beautiful necklace. She says love has nothing to do with wealth.

A young man arrives at the party. His name is Ruggero, and he is the son of one of Rambaldo's friends. Ruggero wants to know where to spend the evening, and he is told Bullier's is the place to be. He departs for the nightclub. Magda, who first says she will stay home, changes her mind, disguises herself as a shopgirl and goes off to the club.

Act II takes place at Bullier's; it is crowded with artists, students and young women. Magda arrives and sees Ruggero sitting alone at a table. She joins him and they begin to talk about love. The young man says that he could only fall in love with a woman he could love forever. When Rambaldo sees them together he demands an explanation. Magda tells him she has found true love and she and Ruggero leave together.

In the final act, Magda and Ruggero are in their villa on the Riviera.

They are running out of money. Ruggero wants to marry Magda; he is unaware of her past. She is dismayed by this and tells him that she can only be his mistress, never his wife. Ruggero is heartbroken as Magda leaves to go back to the life she once led.

Gheorghiu and Alagna are the most glamorous couple on the operatic stage today. They often perform together and are the perfect singers for this opera. "La Rondine" is not like any other opera by Puccini; it has a wistful charm and some lovely music. Don't miss what should be a delightful afternoon.

Barb Herbert of Cape Girardeau is an opera lover and host of Southeast Public Radio's "Sunday Night at the Opera."