As soon a children are mentioned as a possibility, the relationship comes to a crashing close. No doubt, the plot is meant to reveal that being in love with love cannot sustain itself – it leads to nothing and is infertile. Yet everything depends on it being taken seriously otherwise, the disillusionment that eventually sets in has no dramatic impact. Even for an operetta, which is what Puccini thought he was writing, the love-at-first-sight meeting between Magda and Ruggero seems flimsy. However, despite the story of lovers meeting, and lovers parting, La Rondine is curiously uninvovlng – for Puccini. The opera fans and Puccini-lovers with whom I attended La Rondine pronounced it “weak Puccini.” That is because they expected to be swept away. The neglected La Rondine has been resuscitated largely due to Miss Gheorghiu’s efforts, going back to her fine 1997 recording of it on EMI. And I do not mean the production – which was done in an attractive art deco style – I mean the opera. The problem was not with the stars, but with the setting. Everyone was at least good, and there was not a weak link in the acting, which was uniformly fine. She was accompanied by a singularly fine cast, including the superbly passionate Ruggero of Misha Didyk and the lively Lisette of Anna Christy. One could only wish that the material gave her more chances to do that, but more on this later. She leaps within her broad range absolutely effortlessly. She is gorgeous, has riveting stage presence and, most importantly, a beautiful voice, which she deploys with complete confidence. The opera house was full to see opera star Angela Gheorghiu shine in her San Francisco debut. The latter seem to think they are attending their home entertainment centers.

The stately surroundings seemed to affect the dress code of the audience for Puccini’s La Rondine on November 16th, which was clearly superior to what I have encountered in crowds inhabiting the opera houses on the East Coast.

How wonderful to find it so beautifully maintained. I had not been there since a production of Boito’s Mephistophele more than ten years ago. I grow old, but the War Memorial Opera House in San Francisco could have opened yesterday for the freshness of its splendor.

Reilly for contributing this review of the November 16th performance of La Rondine from San Francisco.

War memorial opera house dress code