Opera San José’s ‘Swallow’ soars like a hawk

By Eman Isadiar

This season of Opera San José comes to a close with Puccini’s La rondine (The Swallow), which opened at the California Theatre on April 24 and runs through May 9, 2010. The principal roles of Magda de Civry and Ruggero Lastouc were sung by Rebecca Davis and Christopher Bengochea. Khori Dastoor and Michael Dailey appeared as Magda’s maid Lisette and Prunier the poet. Krassen Karagiozov sang the part of Magda’s companion Rambaldo Fernandez.

Rebecca Davis as Magda and Christopher Bengochea as Ruggero (photo by Pat Kirk)

The Opera is set in 19th century Paris with the final act in Nice. It follows Magda—a woman with a shady past—who now lives with the wealthy banker Rambaldo. When Magda meets a humble country boy named Ruggero, she realizes that her life of privilege has not satisfied her longing for true love. She leaves Rambaldo and follows Ruggero to the Mediterranean coast, much like a swallow migrates to warmer climes.

Magda is quite content as Ruggero’s lover, but is suddenly conflicted when he proposes marriage. She struggles with guilt about her unspoken past, and feels unworthy to be Ruggero’s wife. Her internal anguish comes to a head when she realizes, too, that they are broke and must move in with Ruggero’s parents in the countryside. So she tells Ruggero that theirs is an impossible love, and—once again like a bird—wings her way back to her former life of luxury in Paris with Rambaldo.

In the first aria of the opera, “Il bel sogno di Doretta” ("Doretta's Sweet Dream"), Magda completes an unfinished song by her friend Prunier about a young woman named Doretta who must decide between love and riches. In Magda’s version, Doretta chooses love over fortune, foreshadowing Magda’s own impending decision to leave Rambaldo for Ruggero.

Requiring supreme vocal control, “Doretta’s Dream” is one of Puccini's most moving tunes with a heart-rending pair of descending thirds, which stretch the upper range of the soprano voice to its very limits. If there were an instrument for measuring audience goose bumps, Rebecca Davis might well have broken it with her stunning rendition of this aria.

As the love-stricken Ruggero of Act 2, gifted tenor Christopher Bengochea certainly maintained the standard set by Davis in the preceding act. His powerful delivery of “Bevo al tuo fresco sorriso” ("I Drink to Your Cool Smile"), was one of the highlights of the production. In another moment of pure vocal magic, Begochea left the audience breathless with his soul-stirring aria“Dimmi che vuoi seguirmi” ("Say You Wish to Join Me") of Act 3, where Ruggero sings of the happy life he and Magda would share as husband and wife.

Soprano Khori Dastoor brought just the right dash of playfulness to the opera as Magda’s loyal and mischievous maid. In addition to her highly refined voice, Dastoor is known for her trademark facial humor and physical comedy when appearing in supporting roles. Tenor Michael Dailey was compelling as the debonair poet Prunier, and made a particularly well-suited stage partner for Dastoor.

Baritone Krassen Karagiozov was simply brilliant as Rambaldo, and may have even left the audience regretting that Puccini didn’t write more for his role.

Stage director Jose Maria Condemi deserves credit for the all-around superb acting. The awkward romantic moments often expected in opera were entirely absent in this production, and every embrace was warm, passionate and convincing.

Opera San José music director Maestro David Rohrbaugh led the orchestra in a sensitive and acutely well-balanced accompaniment, even during a few scenes when vocalists sang from the rear area of the theater’s surprisingly deep stage.

Until recent times, La rondine remained one of Puccini’s least-performed operas owing to a number of reasons, including some conflicting versions left by Puccini and partial destruction of the score in bombings during World War I.

Another possible reason is the story’s rather flat ending for an opera—there is no murder, suicide or death of any kind, and love does not conquer all. Naturally, the work went largely neglected until the mid-‘90s, when the missing orchestration was reconstructed and a new version was performed in Turin.

One woman, however, may have also influenced the resurgence of interest in this quasi-forgotten opera—Angela Gheorghiu. The Romanian super-soprano recorded La rondine with the London Symphony Orchestra in the late ‘90s, and appeared in following years in new productions of the work with the Royal Opera House, Metropolitan Opera and San Francisco Opera. Gheorghiu has also performed “Doretta's Dream” extensively in concert.

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Eman Isadiar is a San Francisco-based pianist and music writer.