I got 99 problems, but Puccini ain't one

[litlover12]

Puccini's little-seen opera La Rondine was being shown in movie theaters tonight. I couldn't go, but I managed to get hold of it on DVD. Oh my gosh, the music is GORGEOUS. (And the sets and costumes in this production are amazing -- all Art Deco and Tiffany glass backdrops and so forth.)

Apparently this is a "problem opera" or something -- supposed to be like a Viennese operetta and didn't quite manage it, didn't do well at its premiere, etc., etc. WhatEVER. If this is a "problem," I wish all my problems were just like it.

Comments

[modernelegance.livejournal.com]

So beautiful! I never realized an opera could be in more modern settings! (Not that they "couldn't' but for the sake of tradition they just aren't.)

[litlover12.livejournal.com]

This one was actually written in 1917 (said to be part of the reason for its failure originally -- no one was in the mood for light opera during WWI, it seems!) so they were only taking it forward a few years. But there's a CD cover that shows the same singers dressed in what I guess would be 1917 outfits: http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2000/june00/RondineCDAlagna.JPG

Pretty, but I like the '20s costumes better. I'm glad they decided to move it to that era!