La Rondine Transmission Transcript
READ: Bullock Show Intro
JULIA BULLOCK: Hello. I am classical singer Julia Bullock and I am so pleased to be your host for today’s performance of Giacomo Puccini’s La Rondine. But first we have an announcement from the stage from Met general manager Peter Gelb.
PETER GELB: Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. I’m Peter Gelb, the Met’s general manager. Um, welcome to today’s performance of La Rondine. Uh, you have nothing to worry about. All of our principals are singing. And our brilliant orchestra is playing, uh, and our chorus is joining the cast. But, uh, the, uh – this is allergy season, as you all know, and, uh, our tenor Jonathan Tetelman is suffering from allergies. Uh, he, uh, being the heroic tenor that he is and in the spirit of the show going on, or must go on, uh, is going to be singing today. Um, but I wanted you to know that he is suffering and, uh, so we ask for your, uh, understanding. Thank you.
This also is his Met debut so it’s a big day for him. So... So, please, please enjoy the performance. Thank you very much.
JULIA BULLOCK: We wish Jonathan well for today’s performance. Puccini is best known for heartrending operas with tragic heroines, but with La Rondine he was commissioned to compose an operetta. Neither a comedy nor a tragedy, La Rondine is a bittersweet love story with some of the most delightful music Puccini ever wrote.
Today, leading Met soprano Angel Blue stars as Magda, an impulsive artistically minded Parisian woman who is also a courtesan. She tempts fate by pursuing her dream of true love. Tenor Jonathan Tetelman is making his Met debut as Ruggero, the young country gentleman who falls head over heels for the very beautiful Magda. This art deco inspired production captures the glamor and allure of France in the 1920s as the story moves from a Parisian drawing room to a bustling bistro, to the French Riviera.
Conductor Speranza Scappucci is ready to go to the pit. Here is La Rondine.
INTERVIEW: Bullock w/ Angel Blue
JULIA BULLOCK: Oh, my gosh. Just love, love seeing you.
ANGEL BLUE: It’s good seeing you.
JULIA BULLOCK: Congratulations.
ANGEL BLUE: Thank you.
JULIA BULLOCK: Just beautiful, beautiful first two acts.
ANGEL BLUE: Thank you.
JULIA BULLOCK: So, this is a rare Met revival of La Rondine. What draws you to the story?
ANGEL BLUE: The music. I don’t know that I’m as driven to the story as I am to the music. I think everyone can hear the music is just – it’s Puccini, I think, maybe not at – at his best but his best. (Laughs)
JULIA BULLOCK: Yeah, I agree, I agree. I mean, Puccini wrote just some truly beautiful music for you, for Magda. Um, I just remember the first time that I heard the aria “Chi il bel sogn,” I was still in music school and time stopped.
ANGEL BLUE: Yeah.
JULIA BULLOCK: Is it – is it challenging or difficult to sing that piece right as the curtain goes up essentially?
ANGEL BLUE: Yes, absolutely. It’s very scary to sing it in the beginning. It’s sort of like – in that respect, it’s, it’s – I would say singing something like La Traviata is easier because within the first ten minutes of the opera, we have the most well-known aria in the whole piece. But I’m so excited to be here and to be singing it, I don’t know that the nerves overtake me. Sometimes they do but I try to keep them at bay.
JULIA BULLOCK: Well, as someone who is watching and listening, I enjoyed every second of it.
ANGEL BLUE: Thank you.
JULIA BULLOCK: So, opera aficionados compare the Magda character in La Rondine to, uh, Violetta in La Traviata.
ANGEL BLUE: Yes.
JULIA BULLOCK: So, um – which you’ve also sung here to truly great acclaim. What are their similarities or differences?
ANGEL BLUE: I think perhaps the only real similarity is the fact that they’re both courtesans. I – I have to say with great respect I say that both women are very different and Violetta, we know who she is from the beginning and it’s not sort of hidden in the score. Whereas Magda I find that it’s hidden. My husband actually came to see it for the very first time and he said, I had – I couldn’t – some of the things that I was saying to him about her being a courtesan and not feeling worthy to stay with, uh, Ruggero, he didn’t actually pick up on. Whereas with Violetta, I think all of those things are very well written out in the score. You know, she has this argument with the father in Act Two. We don’t really see that, uh, with Magda until the very end of the, um, opera.
JULIA BULLOCK: Yes, she shields herself of it, no?
ANGEL BLUE: Yes.
JULIA BULLOCK: I found that too when I was...
ANGEL BLUE: I think Puccini shields her in a nice way actually. Yes.
JULIA BULLOCK: Well, without giving away too much of the ending –
ANGEL BLUE: Yes.
JULIA BULLOCK: — can you tell us a little bit about Magda’s emotional journey and what we can expect?
ANGEL BLUE: Yes. What I love about her at the end of the opera is that she – she’s hoping to have this beautiful relationship with Ruggero, uh, but instead, she lets her – her own insecurities on her past stop her from it. And I think the journey that you see her go through in Act Three is that she’s really struggling with what’s virtue and what it isn’t. And, of course, we all have to struggle with that at some point, we all have to make our own decisions on – on what that feels like. But, hopefully, um, our audiences will see that she really is a goodhearted person but she does want the best for Ruggero, and because of that she chooses to do something that I won’t say, otherwise I’ll give away the opera.
JULIA BULLOCK: (Laughs) Appreciate that.
ANGEL BLUE: Yes.
JULIA BULLOCK: Angel, thank you again so much for speaking to me.
ANGEL BLUE: Thank you.
JULIA BULLOCK: And I hope the third act goes just as you want.
ANGEL BULLOCK: Thank you. If I may just really quickly I’d like to say hello to all of my family watching in California, at Jess Ranch in Las Vegas and my husband in Paramus. Thanks for watching and for your support.
JULIA BULLOCK: Love it.
ANGEL BLUE: Thank you.
JULIA BULLOCK: Oh, that’s so great. Thank you, Angel. Bye.
INTERVIEW: Bullock w/ Emily Pogorelc & Bekhzod Davronov
JULIA BULLOCK: Now I’m going to speak with the second half of our principal quartet, soprano Emily Pogorelc and – who sings Lisette, and tenor, uh, Bekhzod Davronov, who plays Prunier.
BEKHZOD DAVRONOV: Hello.
JULIA BULLOCK: Hello, hello.
EMILY POGORELC: Hello.
JULIA BULLOCK: Congratulations, both of you –
BEKHZOD DAVRONOV: Oh, thank you.
JULIA BULLOCK: — on your dazzling Met debuts.
EMILY POGORELC: Thank you.
JULIA BULLOCK: Really fantastic. So, what has it felt like to sing at the Met for the first time?
EMILY POGORELC: It’s really been amazing.
BEKHZOD DAVRONOV: Yes.
EMILY POGORELC: And it just feels so wonderful to be here for the first time. We, uh, met before. We were lucky enough to meet before and –
BEKHZOD DAVRONOV: Yeah, three years ago?
EMILY POGORELC: Three years ago, exactly. And, uh, yeah, we slipped right into it. We’re a good duo. But also I have to say I was really lucky. My sister is on the staff here at the Met. She was assistant director for this production. So, she was showing us the ropes the first couple days.
BEKHZOD DAVRONOV: Yeah.
JULIA BULLOCK: All in the family. And you felt the same?
BEKHZOD DAVRONOV: Oh, yes, I’m feeling really – now it’s dream come true, you know? Because I – when I started studying in Conservatory I’m all the time dreaming about Met. And now I’m really happy. Thank you, Met.
JULIA BULLOCK: And you’re here.
BEKHZOD DAVRONOV: Yeah, right, yes.
JULIA BULLOCK: You have arrived. Both of you. So, your characters, Lisette and Prunier, they provide this quick-witted comic relief throughout the opera. What is your approach to playing these individuals?
EMILY POGORELC: I think that it’s all about kind of the chemistry that we have –
BEKHZOD DAVRONOV: Yes.
EMILY POGORELC: — and creating moments together. Because one of the reasons that it’s so funny is these two people really do have love for one another.
BEKHZOD DAVRONOV: Oh, yeah.
EMILY POGORELC: Even though they pick on each other a little bit. And it’s been so fun to kind of create this relationship and really show how it – how it helps – how we relate to Magda. We’re kind of the foils to that, you know? Also, we both have journeys where we come around and we have the journey of La Rondine as well. We start at one place and we kind of come back to where we are. So, I think it’s pretty awesome.
BEKHZOD DAVRONOV: Yes.
JULIA BULLOCK: Wonderful. Anything to add? (Laughs)
BEKHZOD DAVRONOV: Oh, for me – I’m not playing Prunier, you know, it’s – I’m living the life of Prunier.
JULIA BULLOCK: Ah-ha, you are the poet.
BEKHZOD DAVRONOV: Yeah. (Laughs) No, not poet, of course, but I live (indiscernible) funny and curious. I have feelings, yeah? (Laughs)
EMILY POGORELC: That’s true.
JULIA BULLOCK: Well, Emily and Bekhzod, thank you so much and bravo to you both.
EMILY POGORELC: And if we can say hello to our – hello to my family and friends in Milwaukee and also in our adopted home Munich watching. It’s so great that you’re there. And?
BEKHZOD DAVRONOV: Hello from Uzbekistan. (Laughs)
READ: Neubauer / Toll / Throw to break
JULIA BULLOCK: The Met’s Live in HD series is made possible thanks to its founding sponsor, the Neubauer Family Foundation. Digital support is provided by Bloomberg Philanthropies. The Met Live in HD series is supported by Rolex. And today’s performance of La Rondine is also being heard live over the Robert K. Johnson Foundation Metropolitan Opera International Radio Network. We’ll be back right after the break.
READ: Bullock Intro
JULIA BULLOCK: Welcome back. The Met has just one more live cinema transmission left this season, Puccini’s Madama Butterfly. And the cast and creative team are rehearsing it just behind this door. Lithuanian soprano Asmik Grigorian is making her eagerly anticipated Met debut as Cio-Cio-San. Right now, she and Met assistant conductor Dan Saunders are working on a scene in Act Two when Butterfly imagines what would happen to her and her little son if her husband had abandoned her. In Anthony Minghella’s production, the little boy is portrayed by a Bunraku puppet. Let’s go in.
INTERVIEW: Bullock w/ Asmik Grigorian
JULIA BULLOCK: Oh, wow. My gosh, it’s so stunning. Just a pleasure to meet you. Wow.
ASMIK GRIGORIAN: Thank you.
JULIA BULLOCK: And thank you to your fantastic puppet team as well.
ASMIK GRIGORIAN: Yeah.
JULIA BULLOCK: Sorry, I have tears in my eyes. You were just extraordinary.
ASMIK GRIGORIAN: Oh. (Laughs)
JULIA BULLOCK: So, Cio-Cio-San is such a monumental role. How are you feeling about making your debut at the Met?
ASMIK GRIGORIAN: Uh, I’m actually so happy that I am making my Met debut with Madama Butterfly because this is, I think, one of the most important operas which I did in my life because of all the history of my life, uh, because my mother was singing that role pregnant with me. Then I was playing a child while my parents were singing together. So, this opera really has some extremely big emotional meaning for me. So, I’m really – I’m so excited and so happy that I came here for the first time and with a – with a piece which probably I love the most.
JULIA BULLOCK: Well, it carries such complexity and, of course, as does the character Cio-Cio-San. How do you view her? What are the facets of her personality that you seek to bring out in your performance?
ASMIK GRIGORIAN: I think, you know, many people who knows my art and who knows me and also my interviews that, um, I never look at the character as a character.
JULIA BULLOCK: Mm hmm.
ASMIK GRIGORIAN: All my characters, it’s me. And the only thing which I’m trying to do is really be very precise with the music score which is written, and through that music I am telling my own story, my own feelings and, uh, this is the way how I create all the roles I do. So, I don’t see Madama Butterfly as some character. I see Madama Butterfly as myself being in this situation where she was, so...
JULIA BULLOCK: I understand you just arrived at the Met earlier this week. Are you starting to feel at home here or at least feel welcome?
ASMIK GRIGORIAN: I feel so amazing because actually it’s the first time for me in New York when I’m spending more than one or two days. Except, of course, I was coming here with my dad when he was singing here, so I was spending pretty much time but I was really little, so not many things I remember.
But, uh, really, I came now and during this week I understood – you know, normally, I’m – I’m feeling a bit shy and not very comfortable in the big cities because I grew up in a small country, small town. So, uh, but New York has this incredible freedom, which I think suits my personality a lot because it immediately gives you a feeling that you can be everything here. And this freedom is such a – such a big gift to every person who can live here. Really, it’s amazing.
JULIA BULLOCK: Well, I hope you feel fully liberated on the Met stage when you make your debut.
ASMIK GRIGORIAN: I hope.
JULIA BULLOCK: I know that you’re – well, all of us now, especially me, I know that we all just can’t wait to see you in Madama Butterfly.
ASMIK GRIGORIAN: Thank you.
JULIA BULLOCK: And also in movie theatres on May 11th. Thank you so much for speaking with me and for letting us –
ASMIK GRIGORIAN: Thank you very much for being here, for interest and for – I really will try to give my best. And I’m very happy and excited to be here. Thank you.
JULIA BULLOCK: Thank you. Thank you.
READ: PSA / Fundraising / Throw to Maestro feature
JULIA BULLOCK: As we just saw, Asmik Grigorian is an artist of both musical intelligence and dramatic intensity. She’s a true singing actress. And her performance in Madama Butterfly is sure to be extraordinary and devastating on cinema screens next month.
But artists like Asmik can only be experienced to the fullest when you see and hear them live in the opera house. I can attest to this, well, from personal experience. I’ll never forget the first time that I came to the Met as an audience member. It was a college graduation gift from my mom and she took me to hear Karita Mattila as Salome. And her performance left such an intense impression on me.
I mention this because, well, nothing compares to witnessing a performance by a singer in complete command of her artistry in person, in the auditorium. So, I just wholeheartedly invite you to come to the Met and also visit your local opera company.
Right now at the Met, a lot of artists are making their debuts and it’s really fun to be a part of that. I’ll be making my Met debut in John Adams’ El Niño on Tuesday. Jonathan Tetelman is debuting in La Rondine with Asmik following suit next week. For generations the Met company has engaged the finest artists working in opera, but casting great singers in compelling productions on the grand stage of the Met is – well, it’s very expensive. And ticket sales cover only a fraction of the costs to cover the creative process. The company relies on opera lovers very much like yourselves to help make up the difference. So, if you’re able and inspired to make a donation, please visit metopra.org/donate or text HDLIVE to 44321 to make a contribution. You can also call 212-362-0068. Your support is so appreciated.
As we’ve already heard, Puccini’s La Rondine conjures many different musical and emotional moods, all of which are carefully managed by our conductor today, Speranza Scappucci. She recently spoke to us about the irresistible charm of Puccini’s poignant score.
ROLL-IN B: Maestro Speranza Scappucci on La Rondine
SPERANZA SCAPPUCCI: So, La Rondine was, uh, commissioned to Puccini by the Vienna Karlstheater, um, in 1913. They commissioned him to write an operetta in Italian, and he was very fascinated by the idea of trying something different from all the operas he had written before. Uh, so he accepted this challenge and decided to write this piece, thinking of lighter music, you know, in the spirit of what the Viennese tradition of an operetta was, with the big difference that instead of the spoken dialogue – which is typical of a Viennese operetta – he would write sung dialogue.
For example, at the very opening of the opera, after the first chords which introduces in this festive, uh, ambiance, immediately there’s a dialogue between Prunier and the girls and Magda, and the orchestra and the strings and the flutes, they play… (Plays piano)
Expressions and feelings and dialogue come to the surface, and the orchestra acts sort of nearly like a background. It’s very chamber music-like in the orchestra. It’s very important to find the right texture, not to cover the singers.
Then all of a sudden you will get a great melody, like the aria, “Chi il bel sogno.” But even that aria is very spoken at the very beginning. Um, (Singing aria) The rhythm is quite square – so the orchestra is always in this sort of dialogue mode, and I think this is what makes this piece very, very unique.
The other really important element – especially in Act One but also in Act Two, and then coming back also in Act Three – is, um, this sort of cradling sense of dance that accompanies through the whole opera. At the very beginning, we’re introduced to a waltz theme, which becomes the main theme of Magda, recalling when she was younger and she met this guy at the Café Bullier and – and this is the theme... (Plays piano)
Puccini finally gave up the whole operetta idea. It was never actually performed in Vienna; the premiere happened in 1917 in Monte Carlo, in a much safer space during the war, a more, um, neutral place. And then it became a real opera, let’s say, with also, you needed to have the big ensembles and the duets. And so there’s a – there’s a balance between the very intimate dialogue moments and then your typical big ensembles that you need, like at the end of Act, uh – Act Two and of course, the quartet being probably the most famous theme of the whole... Then you have just… (Plays piano)
Even when he writes this, it’s just one flute… (Plays piano) One flute and pizzicati in the – in the strings… (Plays piano) and a celesta going pling, pling. So, it – there’s a way of writing this music, which is not your typical thick Puccini, you know, Tosca or Butterfly way of writing, which makes it very, very delicate, very intimate. And I do find that this is what makes it extremely special. And the fragility of also the characters should come through that transparency of the music.
This music comes out of impressionism by Debussy, expressionism. It’s imbued with that kind of, uh, finesse. The historical period in which Puccini wrote this piece, World War I, was a moment where I think the world was feeling like everything could just fall apart. And so I do feel like there’s something extremely bittersweet in this music. In other operas of his, you have pure drama or pure, uh, you know, conflict or… Here, it’s more, there’s a delicacy but it’s not just, um, sweet music. There’s a looking back at what life has been, also, in this piece.
INTERVIEW: Bullock w/ Jonathan Tetelman
JULIA BULLOCK: We’re almost ready to get back to the performance but first let’s talk with our Ruggero, Jonathan Tetelman. Hello.
JONATHAN TETELMAN: Ciao. Nice to be here.
JULIA BULLOCK: And, oh, it’s such a pleasure to meet you. You sound really fantastic. But, first off, how are you feeling?
JONATHAN TETELMAN: Well, um, there were seven really great moments of performances and today it’s a little hard to work. Uh, the allergy season has started and, um, I’m doing the best I can with, uh, lots of tea, uh, good mojo and strength, so...
JULIA BULLOCK: Yes, focus, right? (Laughs)
JONATHAN TETELMAN: Exactly. Yeah. And I have Puccini so life is good.
JULIA BULLOCK: There you go. There you go. Now, I know you’ve sung Puccini’s La Bohème and Madama Butterfly. Um, and our HD audiences are going to get to hear you next month in Butterfly. What do you particularly enjoy about singing this composer’s music?
JONATHAN TETELMAN: Oh, where can I start? Um, well, first of all, the composition is, honestly, some of the best music that’s been ever written for opera. Um, I think he was really a pioneer in kind of starting this verismo – mix of verismo-bel canto style. Um, and, uh, you know, the characterization that he brings in – in this, uh, composition really reflects kind of me. I really find myself so, uh – so present in his characterization.
JULIA BULLOCK: Oh, that’s wonderful to hear. So, what is your take on this less-performed work, La Rondine?
JONATHAN TETELMAN: Oh, um, well, it’s – it’s kind of less performed for a reason. (Laughs) I think it’s omitting a bit of the, uh, typical Puccini drama that everybody really loves, you know? Where is the dead person at the end of the opera, you know? We don’t have that in La Rondine. But, um, we do have a wonderful story of these two people kind of just catching each other at this strange moment, uh, where they fall in love with each other and their lives change forever.
JULIA BULLOCK: So, you’ve had some interesting twists and turns on your way to becoming a great tenor star –
JONATHAN TETELMAN: Baritone today. (Laughs)
JULIA BULLOCK: Yeah, you were a baritone and a deejay. So, how has that journey informed your approach to what you do now?
JONATHAN TETELMAN: You know, I think all these little pieces have been kind of – made me become the tenor that I am. Um, I’m still searching for that Jonathan Tetelman’s true voice. I think that will be my whole life’s work, is kind of finding my artistic hand and my – my true vocal power and, uh, and just my identity as a singer. Um, but with Puccini, you know, he was kind of the guy that I started with and, um, I’m so thankful that I get to work with – kind of work with this composer from the beginning.
JULIA BULLOCK: Well, it’s wonderful to also feel that you can find your path and journey alongside of just truly great works of art. Um, we spoke earlier with your Butterfly costar, Asmik Grigorian. Are you looking forward to working with her?
JONATHAN TETELMAN: Oh, I cannot say enough wonderful things about Asmik. I think that her debut here is far too late. I think she’s an unbelievable actress and unbelievable interpreter of – of opera, but especially Puccini. Um, everybody’s in for a treat. Buy your tickets. It’s going to sell out.
JULIA BULLOCK: Agreed. Jonathan, congratulations on your Met debut and thank you again. I hope third act goes just as you want.
JONATHAN TETELMAN: A pleasure. Thank you so much.
JULIA BULLOCK: Thank you.
READ: Throw to Act III
JULIA BULLOCK: At the end of the previous act, Magda ran off with Ruggero to start a new life. When Act Three begins, they have been living in apparent bliss on a villa on the French Riviera. Ruggero hopes to marry but Magda fears that she can’t escape her past. Here is the wrenching conclusion of La Rondine.