After confirming that it could take the form of a comic opera with no spoken dialogue in the style of Der Rosenkavalier, "only more entertaining and more organic,"[1] he agreed.
The originally intended Viennese première was impeded by the outbreak of World War I and the entrance of Italy in the Alliance against Austria-Hungary, hence the Opéra de Monte-Carlo was chosen as the location to present it, with Gilda dalla Rizza and Tito Schipa in the leading roles.
[2] In Italy, Puccini offered the work to his editor Tito Ricordi, who declined to buy it, dismissing it as "Bad Lehár";[2] thus Ricordi's rival, Lorenzo Sonzogno [it], obtained the right to give the first performance outside Austria-Hungary and moved the premiere to Monégasque neutral territory.
However, despite the artistic value of the score, La rondine has been one of Puccini's less successful works; "In box office terms, [it] was the poor cousin to the other great hits.
Suddenly nostalgic, Magda recalls her life as a young girl and happy evenings spent dancing at Bullier's, where she first experienced love (Aria: Ore dolci e divine).
Prunier reads Magda's palm and tells her that she is like a swallow: she longs for migration towards the sun and true love.
Ruggero explains that it is his first visit to Paris and asks where he may find the best place to spend an evening: after much discussion, Lisette recommends Bullier's.
Bullier's, Paris The bar is packed with students, artists and flower girls, singing and dancing.
They chat and Ruggero tells Magda that she reminds him of the quiet and elegant girls from his home town, Montauban.
The two couples sit together and drink a toast to love (Aria: Bevo al tuo fresco sorriso).
Ruggero imagines their happy married life and the child they may have (Aria: Dimmi che vuoi seguirmi).
In the second version, which was premiered at Teatro Massimo, Palermo, in 1920, Prunier is the deciding force in Magda's decision to leave Ruggero in Act 3, and she departs without seeing her lover.
Moreover, a fire at Casa Sonzogno archives caused by Allied bombing during the war destroyed parts of the score which had to be restored based on the surviving vocal-piano arrangements.
The orchestration of the third version was finally completed in authentic Puccinian style by the Italian composer Lorenzo Ferrero at the request of Teatro Regio di Torino and subsequently performed there on 22 March 1994.
The American premiere of La rondine took place at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City on March 10, 1928; Lucrezia Bori sang the role of Magda and Beniamino Gigli appeared as Ruggero.
[4] In Europe since the 1990s stagings have included the première of the third version at Teatro Regio di Torino (1994), as well as performances at La Scala (1994), Leeds Opera North (1994, 2001), Oper Bonn and Ludwigshaven State Opera House (1995), Teatro del Giglio in Lucca (1998), Teatro Filarmonico di Verona (2002), Kansallisooppera, Helsinki (2002, 2003, 2007), Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London (2002, 2005, 2013), Théâtre du Châtelet, Paris (2005), Opéra de Monte-Carlo (2007), La Fenice in Venice (2008), 2012 Teatro Nacional de Sao Carlos (2012), and Portuguese Symphony Orchestra.
Marta Domingo's production of La rondine in Bonn in 1995 used the third version, but added to the tragedy by having Magda commit suicide by drowning in the final bars of the opera.
On 31 December 2008, again with Gheorghiu as Magda, the Metropolitan Opera in New York gave the company's first staging in 70 years.
The creator of the role of Lisette, Ines Maria Ferraris, made the earliest known recording of the aria "Chi il bel sogno di Doretta" in 1928 for the Odeon label.