ART DECO AT THE METROPOLITAN OPERA 

I REALLY ENJOY ART DECO. And if you do too, have I got a deal for you on this Wednesday, April 24, 2024: The Metropolitan Opera HD Encore presentation of Puccini’s La Rondine. 

Check Fathom Events for details of local movie theaters doing Met HD broadcasts.

Puccini Without the Final Corpse. Unlike Tosca, La Boheme, Manon Lescaut, or Butterfly, everyone is alive at the final curtain. Not that La Rondine is a comedy; it’s more of a bittersweet romance, here set in Paris of the 1920s, which is why there’s Ezio Frigerio’s Art Deco scenery to enjoy.

Act I, Fashionable Paris Digs: This and following from the Met’s Synopsis: “The wealthy Rambaldo and his mistress, Magda, are entertaining theatrical and literary friends. Prunier, a poet and the lover of Magda’s maid Lisette, declares that romantic love is back in fashion. No one except Magda takes him seriously.”

Act I. Fashionable Paris Digs. I love the sumptuousness of Ezio Frigerio’s settings. This and following images from The Metropolitan Opera. 

“Prunier offers to read Magda’s palm and predicts that she will go south in pursuit of romance and happiness, just like ‘la rondine,’ the swallow. Rambaldo introduces a visitor, Ruggero, the son of a childhood friend, who is new to Paris and wants to know where to spend the evening.”

Bullier’s is the choice. Magda initially plans to stay home, but then decides to follow disguised as a shopgirl ready for adventure. 

Act II, Bullier’s Restaurant. Saturday Met HD productions show elements of scenery changes, which is part of the fun. With remarkable organization the stage crew presents Bullier’s, and fancy goings-on ensue with artists, students, and young women.

Not to give away the plot to excess (you sense I’m shilling for the Wednesday HD Encore), Ruggero doesn’t recognize Magda, they fall in love, and Act II concludes with them off to start a new life on the Riviera. (Remember Prunier’s prediction.)

Act III, Fashionable Hotel Digs on the Riviera. From the Synopsis: “Magda and Ruggero have been living on the Riviera, but their money is running out.”

Act III. What a lush hotel setting. 

Ruggero wants to marry Magda; she worries about her past. And then….

But enough. Do visit your local movie theater this coming Wednesday and enjoy the Art Deco as well as the opera.

A Thin Plot? Sir Denis Forman writes in A Night at the Opera: An Irreverent Guide to the Plots, the Singers, the Composers, the Recordings: “Rondine is saved from oblivion by three of Puccini’s great qualities: his ability to write a good tune, adroit orchestration and consummate stagecraft. Without these three Rondine would instantly sink below even the Lloyd Webber line and become a junk musical.” 

Ouch.

But What a Cast! Forman, however, couldn’t have known about the fabulous Angel Blue portraying Magda. Or three promising newcomers making their Met debuts in this production: Jonathan Tetelman as Ruggero, Emily Pogorelc as Lisette, and Bekhzod Davronov as Prunier. They’re all a delight even without the Art Deco scenery. ds 

© Dennis Simanaitis, SimanaitisSays.com, 2024