Search - Anna Moffo, Mario Sereni :: Giacomo Puccini: La Rondine

RCA "La Rondine" still the best

daniel0302 | New York, NY United States | 09/14/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

""La Rondine" has fared well on LP and CD, and this 1966 recording is at the head of the class. Anna Moffo is the perfect Magda. As with her "Traviata", "Boheme", and "Luisa Miller", this recording is Moffo at the peak of her vocal and interpretive gifts. Moffo is really superior to her rivals in the other studio recordings of this opera. Angela Gheorghiu, (EMI), is exquisite, but often precious and mannered, and sounds enamored with her own voice. Kiri Te Kanawa (COLUMBIA) is also beautiful, but is cool and aloof much of the time, and occasionaly sounds like she is singing Strauss rather than Puccini. Moffo is always warm, sensual, and beautifully phrased and inflected. These other sopranos give fine performances, but Moffo finds nuances that the others miss.Daniele Barioni as Ruggero is dashing, charming, and youthful, with a great voice that just keeps giving. It is truly perplexing why the major record companies did not see fit to make more recordings of this man's voice. Graziella Sciutti and Piero De Palma contribute character filled portrayals of Lisette and Prunier. Their counterparts in the other recordings all sing prettier, but none are more alive and amusing. Francesco Molinari-Pradelli conducts with a light touch, but knows when to turn on the emotion without turning on the schmaltz."

La Traviata - operetta style -

Michel | Montreal, Quebec | 06/18/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"La Rondine is a little known but charming opera by Puccini.
Some would call it an operetta and indeed sometimes it sounds
a bit like one but it is still operatic in essence. The story
is very similar to La Traviata but more bitter-sweet than tragic
in its conclusion. This set is well worth considering for any
puccinian or Anna Moffo devotees. She is at her most seductive
and affecting as Magda, a courtesan with a heart of gold, and is
very well supported by the rest of the cast, Sciutti and de Pal-
ma making an especially delightful couple. Chorus and orchestra
are excellent and Molinari-Pradelli conducts in a lively and
elegant manner, with good atmospheric sound, this proves to be
a highly enjoyable set."

Anna Moffo shines again

Ralph Moore | Bishop's Stortford, UK | 10/27/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Anna Moffo made so many lovely recordings in the 60's before her sudden vocal decline and hers is nearly always my preferred version, despite strong competition, of such operas as "La Traviata", "Luisa Miller" and, here, "La Rondine". She is beautifully matched with the aristocratic baritone Mario Sereni and the under-recorded Daniele Barioni, plus a supporting cast of comprimario singer stalwarts such Piero Di Palma and Graziella Sciutti. All have such immediately recognisable, individual voices: Sereni, slightly grainy; Moffo with that seductive hint of huskiness; Barioni deploying a hefty but sensitive tenor con gusto - it's a pity that he isn't here given the entrance aria, "Parigi! e la citta dei desideri", which Puccini inserted some years later in response to the nagging, and probably justified, feeling that the tenor lead was somewhat underwritten; Alagna sings this quite beautifully. Molinari-Pradelli knows exactly how Puccini should go; his tempi are flexible and affectionate - although just occasionally I feel that Pappano, in the most recent set, keeps things going with just a little more vivacity and energy. You cannot go wrong with any of the three versions currently available; perhaps it is best to go with your favourite soprano and tenor combo. Certainly the sound is superior in the Pappano and Mr & Mrs Alagna turn in one of their most attractive performances - but Domingo and Te Kanawa, conducted by Maazel, are also very fine. This opera has been lucky on disc and its inclusion in Covent Garden's programme a couple of years ago, with Gheorghiu and Jonas Kaufmann starring, has raised its profile. It has a rather abrupt and slightly anticlimactic ending, I find, but it contains so much lovely music that is recognisably vintage Puccini -and, as always in his operas, a terrific crowd scene (at Bullier's ballroom). Don't pay too much for this one - it is rather short measure at 96 minutes of music on two discs - but it could certainly be your first choice recording."