The reviews are in for our latest recording: La rondine (final 1921 version)! We’re delighted that Opera Rara’s world-premiere recording of Puccini’s final 1921 version has been receiving such a wonderful response from critics. With Ermonela Jaho, Iván Ayón-Rivas, Juan Francisco Gatell and Nicola Alaimo, alongside the BBC Symphony Orchestra and BBC Singers, conducted by Carlo Rizzi, this recording brings a fascinating and rarely heard chapter in Puccini’s operatic history to life. Named Recording of the Month by Oper! Das Magazin and awarded the Appassionato Award by Première Loge, it offers a chance to discover a remarkable final vision of this much-loved opera.

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“Ermonela Jaho, by contrast, brings together the qualities needed to create a particularly rounded and compelling portrait of the heroine. Her voice is capable of both purity and lightness, but it also carries the memory of a life, of a more or less painful past… This is a Magda who does not merely captivate through the beauty of her singing, but also gives the character genuine human depth.” — Première Loge

 

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“Carlo Rizzi conducts with brisk momentum and refinement, bringing out the contrasting qualities of a score that moves between the lightness of operetta and Puccini’s lyrical intensity. The BBC Symphony Orchestra delivers a transparent, brilliant performance, particularly attentive to the orchestration’s wealth of instrumental colour.” — Sonograma

 

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“Ermonela Jaho was secured for the leading role of Magda, her lyric soprano being ideally suited to Puccini’s cantabile writing. Her floating pianissimo and nuanced interpretation of the role make her an ideal choice.” — Klassik begeistert

 

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“The experienced Carlo Rizzi brings chorus, orchestra and soloists together in a cohesive whole, bringing Puccini’s score vividly to life while paying close attention to his characteristic, gently undulating musical idiom.” — Opus Klassiek

Also recognised by Oper! Das Magazin, which named the recording its Recording of the Month in its October issue.