Melburnians braced against biting winds last Thursday to attend the premiere of Victorian Opera’s La Rondine, or The Swallow, by Giacomo Puccini. In St Kilda’s Palais Theatre they were transported to a cosier location – the wealthy Rambaldo’s apartment on the night of his and his mistress Magda’s suave party. Those in the audience were flies on the wall at this party for the entirety of Act One.
This was undoubtedly the weakest act of the production and a perfect storm. The pacing of the libretto by Giuseppe Adami moves almost at a standstill, the act taken up by character introductions, middling conversations and pontifications about love. The cast’s blocking was just a sliver more animated than staged recitals and the set by Richard Roberts felt dated rather than purposeful, with the style of Frasurbane and the colour palette of a Midsomer Murders home, as the costumes sat across decades.Â
In the cavernous Palais Theatre space, with the orchestra not in a pit but in front of the stage, there were moments where the cast’s sound struggled to hit the back of the stalls in Act One’s recitatives. The orchestra, conducted by Tobias Ringborg, responded to the difficulty of finding balance with the cast’s sound by rarely performing above a mezzo-forte dynamic, delivering an overall sense of monotony.
As the curtains closed on Act One, La Rondine seemed like a fairly pedestrian production. But the romantic and lighthearted story still drew chuckles from the audience.Â
Act Two was an improvement, the inclusion of the chorus ramping up the energy on stage alongside the making and breaking of our heroine’s romantic relationships, but it was Act Three where the vocals and performances were dialled up to 11. A bolt of electricity shot through the theatre when Kiandra Howarth, performing the role of Magda, announced to her new lover Ruggero, played by Won Whi Choi, that she could not marry him because, well, she preferred to be a mistress. Jaws dropped. Howarth’s performance of ‘It’s not you it’s me’ was heartfelt and genuine, making the lovers’ separation heartbreaking. Choi matched her emotional intensity akin to a kicked puppy by her feet.Â
Howarth displayed ear-a’tingling dynamic control throughout the production and all her arias were delightful, but Won Whi Choi was the vocal standout of the night with a sound that leapt over the orchestra with ease. In Act One his tone was confident and macho, reminiscent of the Duke in Rigoletto’s famous aria, ‘La Donna è Mobile’. In Act Three, enamoured by Magda, this tone shifted to something more naive and idealistic. This was a thoughtful interpretation that added depth to Ruggero’s character development, but it also showcased Choi’s technical control.Â
Read: Musical review: Hamilton, Sydney Lyric Theatre, The Star
La Rondine is a low-stakes, at times slow-paced narrative, into which the Victorian Opera team weren’t quite able to inject much needed additional intrigue. Howarth and Choi, however, delivered performances that ended the production on a high note.Â
La Rondine
Palais Theatre, St Kilda
Composer: Giacomo Puccini
Conductor: Tobias Ringborg
Assistant Conductor: Phoebe Briggs
Director: Stuart Maunder
Set and Designer: Richard Roberts
Lighting Designer: Gavan Swift
Associate Designer: Louisa Fitzgerald
Cast: Won Whi Choi, Nina Korbe, Kiandra Howarth, Douglas Kelly, Teddy Tahu Rhodes, Sarah Prestwidge, Michaela Cadwgan, Syrah Torii
Orchestra Victoria
La Rondine was performed 8-10 August 2024.
