Newsday, September 2004

Paris in its many fascinating aspects is an enduring presence in Puccini's operas. There are the seedy docks of Il tabarro, the Fragonard-crossed-with-Tristan world of Manon Lescaut, and the garrets and nightscapes of La bohème, perhaps most familiar to New Yorkers in the supersize renditions of Franco Zeffirelli and Baz Luhrmann.

La rondine, Puccini's heady, dance-infused 1915 opera, may be the weakest of his works set in the City of Lights. While City Opera's revival makes a persuasive musical case for this well-crafted score, there is no getting around the fact that La rondine comes off as flimsy and derivative in comparison with the operas that inspired it.

Like Verdi's La traviata, La rondine ("The Swallow") is the story of a kept woman (Magda) who finds true love with a young man from the provinces (Ruggero), but abandons their idyll when her sordid past comes back to haunt her. There are nods to Die Fledermaus (a cheeky maid who pilfers her mistress' gowns) and Puccini's own La bohème (a night on the town, contrasting pairs of lovers). La rondine, though, lacks the moral outrage that animates Verdi's masterpiece and the ever-fresh exuberance of La bohème. When the going gets rough, Puccini cues up another waltz. Sniffle; dab; curtain down.

That said, Puccini could hardly hope for a more committed or sympathetic cast than City Opera has assembled. Magda's nowhere-to-hide vocal lines hold no terrors for soprano Pamela Armstrong, whose luscious timbre, shot through with just enough metal and darkness, is ideal for Puccini's music. Armstrong shone in the rapturous "Sogno di Doretta," but also found tart accents for her banter with her sticky-fingered domestic, her voice cutting neatly through Puccini's rich orchestrations and soaring to gleaming pianissimo heights.

Her dashing Ruggero, tenor Gerard Powers, started off in tight voice but soon came into his own, bringing a handsome timbre, refined musicianship and winning ardor to his assignment. Soprano Angela Turner Wilson, a chirpy Lisette, similarly molded lively, eloquent phrases. Her playful Act I duet with the endearingly cynical Prunier of tenor Tracey Welborn, making his City Opera debut, was one of the performance's high points.

Brian McIntosh, a burly-voiced Rambaldo, and the charming grisettes of Kathleen Magee, Melanie Vaccari and Kathryn Friest, rounded out the main players. The City Opera chorus sang beautifully in Act II's sentimental songs, and conductor Stephen Lord coaxed fragrant, voluptuous sounds from the orchestra.

Lotfi Mansouri's efficient staging, with sets by Ralph Funicello and frumpy costumes by Ralph Kirkpatrick, cannot compensate for the intrinsic archness of this opera. But in a young musical season with much promising Puccini to come (at City Opera, the Met and Opera Orchestra of New York), this Rondine should stand as a memorable feast for the ears.

LA RONDINE. Music by Giacomo Puccini, libretto by Giuseppe Adami. New York City Opera, Stephen Lord conducting. Attended Sunday, State Theater, Lincoln Center. For tickets, call 212-307-4100 or visit www.nycopera.com.