Concert Programme - Puccini's 1921 final version of La rondine

PUCCINI

Friday 5 December 2025, 7.30pm Barbican Hall

Great operatic discoveries.

Made possible by donors like you.

Registered Charity No. 261403

Support Opera Rara by making a donation at

opera-rara.com/support or by calling 020 7613 2858

Welcome It is a pleasure to welcome you this evening to the Barbican Hall for the performance of Giacomo Puccini’s final version of La rondine, which has not been performed since 1927.

Tonight’s concert celebrates Opera Rara and the BBC Symphony Orchestra’s fifth collaboration. We’ve spent the last two weeks together in the studio recording this work, which will be released globally next autumn. Since our first recording together in 2013, Donizetti’s Caterina Cornaro, Opera Rara and the BBC Symphony Orchestra have forged a creative partnership built on a shared passion for discovery and giving voice to less‑heard and neglected composers and works. Over the past decade, that partnership has brought to life a succession of remarkable projects, from Donizetti’s Belisario and Bellini’s Adelson e Salvini to Leoncavallo’s Zazà, each illuminating forgotten corners of the operatic repertoire at the highest artistic level that has become a hallmark of our work together.

We are especially proud to have Carlo Rizzi, Opera Rara’s Artistic Director, leading tonight’s performance. A passionate champion of Puccini’s music, Carlo Rizzi guides us through La rondine’s shimmering world of Parisian elegance and Italian lyricism as we have not heard it before. And we are thrilled to welcome Ermonela Jaho, Opera Rara’s Artist Ambassador, who sings one of her signature roles, Magda, in this new version with the radiant emotional honesty that has made her one of the most beloved sopranos on the world’s stages.

Puccini’s La rondine has long been considered an anomaly among his mature operas, blending the light-hearted charm of operetta with the emotional depth of his serious works.

The 1921 version, recently reconstructed by music historian Ditlev Rindom from surviving scores and sketches, with orchestral realisations by Martin Fitzpatrick, presents Puccini’s definitive vision, transforming the opera’s final act into a tragic reflection on love, choice and the fleeting nature of youthful passion.

We are grateful to the BBC Symphony Orchestra and the BBC Singers for their ongoing partnership, and to Opera Rara’s many supporters and friends whose enthusiasm makes ventures like this possible. Together, we continue to revive works that deserve to be heard, ensuring that the rich tapestry of operatic history inspires today’s audiences and is available to enjoy for generations to come.

Thank you for joining us on tonight’s journey of discovery. We hope you will be moved by the beauty, nostalgia and emotional depth of Puccini’s final 1921 version of La rondine.

Henry Little Chief Executive Opera Rara

Bill Chandler

Director BBC Symphony Orchestra & Chorus

HEAR OUR ACCLAIMED RECORDINGS

Enjoy award-winning recordings by Opera Rara and the BBC SO of operas that deserve to be heard 1

Scan the QR code to stream

OPERA RARA’S SALONS Thursday 26 February | 7PM Bechstein Hall Marylebone Julieth Lozano Rolong soprano Anna Tilbrook piano

Join Opera Rara at Bechstein Hall for the second Salon Series recital of its 55th season. We welcome back pianist Anna Tilbrook, who will accompany Colombian soprano Julieth Lozano Rolong in an evening of rare songs that explore the many shades of feminine expression— romantic love, maternal devotion, and self-love— through music that spans both traditional European and rarely-heard Latin American repertoire. From longing and loss to honesty and resilience, it reveals how our shared emotions transcend borders and connect us all through song. Tickets: £35

Thursday 23 April | 7PM Bechstein Hall Marylebone Soraya Mafi soprano Robert Lewis tenor Anna Tilbrook piano

Opera Rara’s final Salon Series recital of its 55th season sees British tenor Robert Lewis join forces with British-Iranian soprano Soraya Mafi. They will be accompanied once again by the series’ featured collaborator and pianist Anna Tilbrook in a programme of bel canto bliss.

Exploring more of the nearly 200 recently discovered songs by Gaetano Donizetti, the programme will also include duets by Donizetti that have not been heard for nearly 200 years.

Join us at Bechstein Hall for this rare chance to hear recently discovered music by one of opera’s greatest composers. Tickets: £35

OPERA-RARA.COM/EVENTS

in partnership with

GIACOMO PUCCINI

Friday 5 December 2025 7.30pm | Barbican Hall Carlo Rizzi conductor Ermonela Jaho Magda de Civry Iván Ayón-Rivas Ruggero Lastouc Nicola Alaimo Rambaldo Fernandez Ellie Neate Lisette Juan Franciso Gatell Prunier 40’ ACT 1 Jessica Robinson Yvette / Georgette / Fleury Julieth Lozano Rolong Bianca / Gabriella / Mariette 35’ ACT 2 Joanna Harries Suzy / Lolette / Rorò INTERVAL 20’ Robert Lewis Gobin David Shipley Périchaud 35’ ACT 3 William Thomas Crébillon / Il maggiordomo Symphony Orchestra Libretto by Giuseppe Adami, adapted from BBC BBC Singers Alfred Maria Willner and Heinz Reichert.

Martin Fitzpatrick Assistant Conductor 1916 original version premiere: Monte and Chorus Director Carlo, March 1917 Valeria Racco Italian Language Coach 1921 final version premiere: Fiume, Italy 1924 Steven Maughan Repetiteur (principals) Kenneth Chalmers Surtitles Opera in three acts sung in Italian with English surtitles Co-produced by the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Opera Rara

Critical Edition by Ditlev Rindom (©2025) with realisations by Martin Fitzpatrick © Casa Ricordi Srl., Milano (Universal Music Publishing Group · Classics & Screen). By arrangement with G. Ricordi & Co. (London) Ltd. Opera Rara and the BBC Symphony Orchestra’s studio recording of the final 1921 version of Puccini’s La rondine will be broadcast in BBC Radio 3’s Opera on 3 on 26 September 2026 and available on BBC Sounds for 30 days after the broadcast.

Opera Rara is grateful to its Guardian Supporters for their support of tonight’s concert:

Carlo Grosso Stefan Olsson & John Tierney Andrea Pessino with additional thanks to Opera Rara’s Circle members

Please ensure all digital devices are on silent.

2

Synopsis Act 1

The action opens in Magda’s salon in Paris at twilight. Magda is with her patron Rambaldo and a group of friends. The poet Prunier amuses Yvette, Bianca and Suzy by declaring that romantic love has become fashionable in Parisian high society, especially among women. At the piano, he performs a new song he has composed about Doretta, a young woman who rejects a king’s advances in favour of true love; Magda completes the song for the admiring crowd (‘Chi il bel sogno di Doretta’). Rambaldo is cynical but he gives Magda a necklace; Prunier observes that Doretta would not be so susceptible to money. The maid Lisette rushes in, informing them that a visitor is waiting; he is the son of an old friend of Rambaldo. The men and Lisette depart, and Yvette, Bianca and Suzy reflect that Magda is privileged with Rambaldo. Magda, however, thinks nostalgically of when she was a young grisette; she recalls an evening she ran away from her aunt to go to Bullier with a young man (‘Ore dolci e divine’). Prunier returns and remarks that his own preference is for artistic, decadent women. Rambaldo introduces Ruggero, who has just arrived in Paris. Prunier reads Magda’s palm and predicts that she will migrate like a swallow, but to an unknown fate. Prunier declares that Paris is overrated but Lisette interrupts him and praises the city; the women recommend Bullier for Ruggero’s first evening. Everyone leaves the salon except Magda, who reflects on Prunier’s premonition. After she leaves, Prunier and Lisette enter; they are secretly lovers and he chooses her clothes, which she has taken on the sly from Magda (‘T’amo! Menti!’). After they leave, Magda returns dressed as a grisette, remembering Prunier’s story about Doretta.

Act 2

The action moves to Bullier’s. A huge crowd of students, artists, grisettes, flower sellers, waiters and customers move around the hall, which has a grand staircase to the left, a garden at the back and a balcony. Members of the crowd flirt with one another, and demand drinks; Ruggero sits shyly in a corner, where he is approached by Georgette, Gabriella, Lolette and other grisettes. Magda arrives and attracts the interest of a group of students; she pretends she has a meeting to move away from them, and approaches Ruggero. He asks her to keep him company and tells her she reminds him of the modest girls in Montauban. They dance together and become lost in the crowd (‘Nella dolce carezza della danza’).

Prunier and Lisette arrive; he is praised by the crowd as the poet of love, and Georgette, Gabriella and Lolette pursue him (‘Deh! scendi dall’Olimpo!’). Magda and Ruggero order drinks, reviving Magda’s memories of her youth; she toasts to his loves but Ruggero sharply declares that if he loved, it would be only once and THE LATEST OPERA RARA NEWS

Get our latest news, events, livestreams and more straight to your inbox by signing up to our mailing list.

Scan the QR code to sign up

3

forever. They embrace (‘Perché mai cercare di sapere’) but are interrupted by Lisette and Prunier. The poet and Magda recognise one another but stay quiet; Lisette is convinced ‘Paulette’ is really Magda but the idea is mocked, and Lisette confesses she has borrowed her mistress’s clothes. The four lovers toast to love, supported by the crowd who throw flowers at them (‘Bevo al tuo fresco sorriso’).

Suddenly, Prunier sees Rambaldo arrive. As the crowd begin to leave, Ruggero takes Lisette away and Rambaldo approaches Prunier and Magda; the poet tries to hide Magda. Rambaldo asks Magda to leave with him but she refuses, saying she loves the young man; Rambaldo says love is an old wives’ tale, but he leaves Magda to make her choice. As dawn breaks, an offstage voice sings that morning dispels the illusions of the evening, and that love should not be trusted. Ruggero and Magda embrace (‘Paulette! Mia Paulette!’); she is drained and fearful as her romantic dream is realised, but she clings to Ruggero as her energy seems to return.

Act 3

Three months later. The action takes place on the pavilion of a grand hotel in the Côte d’Azur, in the late afternoon. Magda pours tea and she and Ruggero embrace one another, reflecting on their happiness in this new life. Suddenly they are interrupted by Fleury, Mariette and Rorò, fashionable saleswomen who present the latest clothes. Magda and Ruggero tell them they are too poor and the women leave laughing. Ruggero consoles Magda and tells her their financial struggles will soon be over: he has asked his family for permission to marry Magda (‘Dimmi che vuoi seguirmi alla mia casa’). She is shocked, but he reminds her that love is forever and he wishes to bring her home and raise a family. Ruggero leaves and Magda is tormented by his ignorance of her past. She enters the pavilion and Lisette and Prunier arrive, arguing: Prunier tried to launch a singing career for Lisette in Nice but the public mocked her. The butler greets them and announces their arrival. Magda is surprised; she tells Prunier she is completely happy but he responds that she is not suited to this modest life. Lisette offers to return as Magda’s maid and Prunier adds that Magda will also return to her old ways; Rambaldo has asked him to deliver this message. Lisette and Prunier leave together, now reconciled, and Rambaldo arrives (‘Che volete da me?’). He tells Magda that the swallow will eventually return to its nest and he leaves a small wallet, asking for Magda’s forgiveness. Ruggero appears, in distress and holding a letter; Rambaldo exits quickly. Magda reads the letter revealing the truth about her past in Paris; Ruggero violently accuses her of betrayal.

He sees the wallet on the table and the couple fight over it; Ruggero throws the money in Magda’s face and pushes her to the ground. She pleads for his forgiveness, crawling on the floor (‘Non maledire, ascolta’); but he curses her and leaves forever. Lisette arrives and comforts the heartbroken Magda. The two women walk off into the distance together as the evening bells toll.

ASK

DO YOU HAVE A BURNING QUESTION?

Our team of experts will answer your questions by video, social media, or blog post 4

Ask away by scanning the QR code

Carlo Rizzi Conductor

Opera Rara's Artistic Director, Carlo Rizzi enjoys a long-standing reputation as one of the world’s foremost operatic conductors, in demand as a guest artist at the world’s most prestigious venues and festivals.

Equally at home in the opera house and the concert hall, his vast repertoire ranges from the foundational works of the operatic and symphonic canon to rarities by Cimarosa, Donizetti, Giordano, Pizzetti and Montemezzi.

Born in Milan, Rizzi studied at the city’s conservatoire, and following his graduation was employed as a repetiteur at the Teatro alla Scala.

He launched his conducting career in 1982 with a production of Donizetti’s L’ajo nell’imbarazzo, and has now performed over a hundred operas all around the world.

Since 2019 Rizzi has been Artistic Director of Opera Rara, and since 2015 he has been Conductor Laureate of the Welsh National Opera, following his tenure as Music Director (1992–2001 and 2004–8). He also has held longstanding relationships with the Teatro alla Scala, the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, and the Metropolitan Opera in New York, and his career has seen him conducting at the most distinguished operatic addresses worldwide.

With Opera Rara, Rizzi has recorded a pair of Gramophone Award-nominated discs with Joyce El-Khoury and Michael Spyres, the original 1912 version of Leoncavallo’s Zingari and the premiere recording of Mercadante’s Il proscritto, which won an International Opera Award. His most recent opera recording – of Donizetti’s L’esule di Roma, released in spring 2024 – was nominated for Best Recording at the 2024 International Opera Awards. His recordings of Donizetti Songs with Lawrence Brownlee, Nicola Alaimo, Michael Spyres and Ermonela Jaho have recently been released to critical acclaim, with two further volumes of Donizetti Songs to be released in 2026.

In 2024 Rizzi was awarded the honour of “Grande Ufficiale” (Grand Officer) of the “Ordine della Stella d’Italia” (Order of the Star of Italy) for his commitment and contribution to promoting Italian music and culture internationally.

DONIZETTI SONGS

Carlo Rizzi’s latest recordings of Donizetti’s Songs are available now!

Scan the QR code to listen

5

Generously supported by Opera Rara Artist Benefactor

Ermonela Jaho

Philip Eisenbeiss

Magda de Civry

Opera Rara’s Artist Ambassador, Ermonela Jaho, is internationally recognized as today’s foremost celebrated operatic singing-actresses, who performs regularly at the most important opera houses around the world. She was recently titled "Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres" for significant contributions to the arts and culture in France and around the world, Artist of the Year at the 2023 International Classical Music Awards, The Best Female singer of Germany’s OPER Awards 2024 and Spain’s Opera XXI Best Foreign Artist 2024. She is the winner of ICMA Vocal Music award for her solo album Anima Rara, recorded with Opera Rara, and the winner of the Readers Award at the International Opera Awards. She is the Artist Ambassador of Opera for Peace and is a member of the Academy of Sciences of Albania.

The Economist described her as a “Fiery angel… the world’s most acclaimed soprano”.

Financial Times stated, “she throws heart and soul into her singing. Don’t even try to resist!”, “she is deeply moving in La traviata”. The Independent proclaimed her as “the best Madama Butterfly London has seen in years”. The New York Times stated “This soprano sings the sound of the soul” and Australia’s Daily Telegraph described her as “an unstoppable phenomenon”.

Her signature roles which are much acclaimed from the public and critics alike, include Violetta, Cio Cio San, Suor Angelica, Adriana Lecouvreur, Anna Bolena, Thais, Luisa Miller, and many more. She has sung on the most important stages in the world such as Royal Opera House in London, Metropolitan Opera in New York, Bayerische Staatsoper, Gran Teatre del Liceu, Teatro alla Scala in Milan, Opéra National de Paris, Wiener Staatsoper, Teatro Real in Madrid, Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, Arena di Verona and more. Her recent engagements include performances in London, Paris, New York, Munich, Zurich, and Madrid.

Ermonela Jaho made her recording debut with Opera Rara in Leoncavallo’s Zazà and has since recorded Puccini’s Le Willis, her debut recital album Anima Rara and, most recently, Vols 5 and 6 of Donizetti Songs.

LISTEN TO OUR ARTIST AMBASSADOR ERMONELA JAHO AT HOME

The debut recital album from Ermonela Jaho explores music championed by Rosina Storchio Scan the QR code to stream the recording 6

supported by Iván Ayón-Rivas Generously Opera Rara Artist Benefactors Islée Oliva Salinas & Michael Buckley

Ruggero Lastouc

Iván Ayón-Rivas was born in 1993 in

Peru. He studied opera under Maria Eloisa Aguirre Gonzalez, Juan Diego Flórez, Ernesto Palacio, Vincenzo Scalera, Maurizio Colacicchi and Luigi Alva. He is currently studying in Italy with the baritone Roberto Servile.

In 2013 he won second prize at the Peruvian National Competition for Opera Singers, and in 2014 he sang in many solo recitals in Peru. In November 2015, he won the third edition of the Concorso Internazionale di Canto ‘Premio Etta e Paolo Limiti’. He sang in Mercadante’s Francesca da Rimini at the Festival della Valle d’Itria in Martina Franca, conducted by Fabio Luisi, and he returned the following year in Un giorno di regno.

Among his recent and future engagements: La traviata in Venice, Rimini, Florence and Rome, Falstaff in Turin, L’arlesiana in Berlin, Il corsaro in Piacenza, I Capuleti e i Montecchi in Rome and at the Puccini Festival in Torre del Lago, L’elisir d’amore in Las Palmas and Bari, Rigoletto in Florence under the baton of Fabio Luisi, and in Turin and Palermo directed by John Turturro, and in Rome, Venice, Tokyo and Liège under Daniele Gatti, Don Pasquale and Gianni Schicchi at the Liceu in Barcelona, Eugene Onegin and Otello at the Wiener Staatsoper, Faust in Venice, Les contes d’Hoffmann in Sydney and Venice and his debut with Macbeth at La Scala.

He won First Prize in the Don Placido Domingo Ferrer Prize of Zarzuela and the Rolex Audience Prize at the Operalia Competition 2021.

Iván made his recording debut with Opera Rara in 2022 in the International Opera Awards winning recording of Mercadante’s Il proscritto. He returned last year to record Verdi’s 1857 version of Simon Boccanegra, which was released earlier this year to critical acclaim, being nominated for both an International Opera Award and a Gramophone Award.

MERCADANTE’S IL PROSCRITTO

Hear Iván’s award-winning debut recording with Opera Rara Get your copy by scanning the QR code 7

Nicola Alaimo Rambaldo Fernandez

Winner of the 2016 Premio Abbiati Prize, Nicola Alaimo performs regularly in prestigious theatres and festivals around the world, including Metropolitan Opera, La Scala in Milan, Teatro Regio in Turin, Arena di Verona, San Carlo in Naples, Salzburg Festival, La Monnaie in Brussels, Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Opéra de Monte-Carlo, Opéra national de Paris, Opera di Roma, Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Teatro Real in Madrid, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Opernhaus Zürich and at the Rossini Opera Festival.

Alaimo has collaborated with conductors including Maurizio Benini, Bruno Campanella, Gianluigi Gelmetti, Daniele Gatti, James Levine, Michele Mariotti, Zubin Mehta, Riccardo Muti, Evelino Pidò, Jean-Christophe Spinosi and Carlo Rizzi.

The great success of his interpretation of the title role in Rossini’s Guillaume Tell has seen acclaimed performances in opera houses worldwide. Recent highlights include a tour of La Cenerentola, Il Turco in Italia and a Rossini Gala with Cecilia Bartoli and Gianluca Capuano, Falstaff in Florence, Venice and Tokyo, La forza del destino in Paris, Il barbiere di Siviglia in Salzburg and at the Arena in Verona; La Cenerentola and L’Italiana in Algeri in Zürich; Nabucco in Geneva; Le Comte Ory in Bologna; Don Pasquale in Turin; Gianni Schicchi in Monte-Carlo.

Future engagements include Roberto Devereux in Geneva and Naples; L’equivoco stravagante at the Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro; Adriana Lecouvreur in Madrid and Toulouse; Madama Butterfly in Florence; L’elisir d’amore in Monte-Carlo; Guillaume Tell in Liège; Il barbiere di Siviglia at the Metropolitan Opera and Falstaff in Dresden.

Nicola Alaimo’s previous recordings with Opera Rara include the title role in Donizetti’s Belisario, winner of the 2014 Prix de l’Académie du Disque Lyrique, and the role of Murena in Donizetti’s L’esule di Roma, released in spring of 2024. His recording of Vol 1 of Donizetti Songs was released in autumn of 2024, and his most recent recording of Vol 8 of Donizetti Songs will be released next summer.

DONIZETTI’S L’ESULE DI ROMA

Nicola Alaimo stars in one of Donizetti’s most exciting roles for bass-baritone Listen by scanning the QR code 8

Generously supported by Opera Rara Artist Benefactor

Ellie Neate

Jenny Hodgson

Lisette

Ellie Neate graduated from the

Guildhall School of Music and Drama opera course in 2022.

She has performed Five Eliot Landscapes by Thomas Adès at Oxford Lieder Festival, was broadcast live from the Wigmore Hall for the BBC, sang the soprano solo in Carmina Burana with the London Symphony Chorus at Barbican Hall, performed ‘Zero Gravity’ for English National Opera in Liverpool for ENO Does Eurovision, and recorded the soundtrack for the Disney+ television series Rivals.

Opera roles include cover Tytania A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Papagena The Magic Flute Lite for Opera North, Ellie in The Man in the Moon for the Royal Opera House’s Family Sunday programme, cover Mabel The Pirates of Penzance, Celia Iolanthe, First Daughter Akhnaten, and cover Elsie Maynard The Yeomen of the Guard (all at ENO), Elisa Il Re Pastore, Lisa La Sonnambula, and Cleopatra Marc’ Antonio e Cleopatra by Hasse (all Buxton International Festival), Galatea Acis and Galatea, Milica Svadba by Ana Sokolović, and Maria Bertram Mansfield Park (all Waterperry Opera), Cunegonde Candide (Blackheath Halls Opera), and Gretel Hansel and Gretel (British Youth Opera) for which she won the Basil A Turner Award.

Recent projects include Sylviane in The Merry Widow for Scottish Opera and Opera Holland Park and Zerlina in Don Giovanni for Waterperry Opera.

This is her recording debut with Opera Rara.

GO INTO THE RECORDING STUDIO

Learn more about our 1921 La rondine project and see behind the scenes footage from the studio Learn more by scanning the QR code

9

supported by Juan Franciso Gatell Generously Opera Rara Artist Benefactors Islée Oliva Salinas & Michael Buckley

Prunier

Acclaimed as one of the most interesting tenors among his generation, Argentinian Juan Francisco Gatell’s voice has been called luminous, seductive, elegant, and agile, his acting dramatic and sensitive. He has appeared on opera and concert stages throughout Europe, and in North and South America.

Francisco appeared on opera and concert stages throughout the world, including Teatro alla Scala, Teatro la Fenice, Teatro Regio di Torino, Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, Théâtre des Champs Élysées, Wiener Staatsoper, Gran Teatre del Liceu, Teatro Real di Madrid, Amsterdam, Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Opéra Bastille, LA Opera, Sofia, NCPA Pechino, New National Theatre Tokyo, the Salzburg Festival, Rossini Opera Festival, Festival d’Aix-en-Provence.

He performed under the most important orchestra conductors and stage directors, such as: R. Abbado, J.Conlon, D.Gatti, R.Muti, Y.Nezet-Séguin, D.Rustioni, A.Zedda, H.De Ana, M.Haneke, M.Mariotti, D.Michieletto, P.Pizzi, L.Ronconi, G.Vick.

Francisco’s highlight roles are: Tamino (Die Zauberflöte), Ferrando (Così fan tutte), Don Ottavio (Don Giovanni), the Rossini roles of Cavalier Belfiore (Il viaggio a Reims), Conte d’Almaviva (Barbiere di Siviglia), Idreno (Semiramide), Paolo Erisso (Maometto II), Rodrigo (Donna del Lago), and in Donizetti’s Nemorino (Elisir d’amore) and Ernesto (Don Pasquale).

His most recent appearances were Fenton in Falstaff, Aix-en-Provence, Opéra de Lyon, and Palau de Les Arts di Valencia; in Mozart’s Zaide (Gomatz) at Opera di Roma, Il Barbiere di Siviglia at the Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro , Don Ottavio and Ferrando at Théatre de la Monnaie in Brussels in the Mozart-Da Ponte project, in addition to the resounding success of his Nemorino in Elisir d’amore at Teatro Real in Madrid, Mayr’s Medea in Corinto at Donizetti Opera in Bergamo and Orphée et Euridyce by Gluck at Maggio Musicale Fiorentino.

This is his debut with Opera Rara.

NEED MORE ITALIAN SONGS IN YOUR LIFE?

We’ve curated a Spotify playlist with more Italian songs just for you... and some French songs too!

Scan the QR code to listen on Spotify

10

Jessica Robinson Yvette / Georgette / Fleury

Welsh soprano Jessica Robinson represented Wales in the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World Competition in 2023 and won the Welsh Singers Competition in 2022. She is a recent graduate from the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama. As an oratorio and concert soloist, Jessica regularly performs across the UK, including performing for HRH The Prince of Wales and guests at Buckingham Palace. Internationally, she has performed in New York, China, Switzerland and Italy. This is her recording debut with Opera Rara.

supported by Julieth Lozano Rolong Generously Opera Rara Artist Benefactor Sara Naudi

Bianca / Gabriella / Mariette

Julieth Lozano Rolong was the 2023

winner of the Dame Kiri te Kanawa audience prize in Cardiff Singer of the World and 2018 recipient of the President’s award given by HM The King. The Colombian soprano graduated with a Masters in Vocal Performance and an Artist Diploma in Opera from the RCM. Julieth has performed with WNO, ENO, Scottish Opera, Grand Theatre of Geneva, Estonian Opera, Cairo Opera, Teatro Mayor and Teatro Colón in Bogotá among others. 2024 Cultural Changemaker award winner, Julieth is a passionate social ambassador for young talent and her culture. This is her debut with Opera Rara.

THE OPERA RARA SALONS

Hear rising stars in intimate concerts at Bechstein Hall - the next one featuring Julieth Lozano Rolong See our upcoming events by scanning the QR code 11

Joanna Harries Suzy / Lolette / Rorò

Returning to Opera Rara, mezzo-soprano Joanna Harries has been praised for her “stylish” singing (Opera Magazine) and the “emotional force” (The Times) of her performances. Joanna enjoys a varied career in opera, concert and recital. Born in New Zealand and raised in Wales, she recently finished as a young artist at the National Opera Studio in London and made her debuts with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at Cadogan Hall as mezzo soloist for Mozart’s Requiem, and with the London Symphony Orchestra at the Barbican as mezzo soloist in Paul Rissmann’s Through the Looking Glass suite.

Robert Lewis Gobin

Making his Opera Rara debut, Welsh tenor Robert Lewis was a member of the Opéra National de Lyon Studio from 2022-2024. He is a recent graduate of the Guildhall School of Music & Drama.

During the 2024/25 season, Robert’s roles include Andres (Wozzeck) and L'abbé (Andrea Chénier) at Opéra National de Lyon, Scaramuccio and Ein Offizier (Ariadne auf Naxos) at Opéra de Rouen, Alfred (Die Fledermaus) in Barcelona and Seville with Les Musiciens du Louvre, Lensky (Eugene Onegin) at Opéra National de Lorraine, Der Bucklige (Die Frau ohne Schatten) at Nationale Opera and Ballet, Amsterdam and War Requiem performances in Japan.

OFFENBACH’S LA PRINCESSE DE TRÉBIZONDE

Hear Joanna Harries’ debut on Opera Rara’s OPER! and Opus Klassik Award winning recording Listen by scanning the QR code 12

David Shipley Périchaud

Returning to Opera Rara, British bass David Shipley is a graduate of the Jette Parker Young Artists Programme at the Royal Opera House. Highlights of the 2025-26 season see David make his house debut with the Opéra Orchestre National Montpellier as Pistola in Falstaff, a further house and role debut at English National Opera as Alaska Wolf Joe in Jamie Manton’s new production of Rise & Fall of the City of Mahagonny along with a return to Grange Park Opera as Fafner in Das Rheingold. David made his Opera Rara debut last year as Pietro in Verdi’s 1857 version of Simon Boccanegra.

William Thomas Crébillon / Il maggiordomo

British bass William Thomas is fast making a name for himself as one of today’s most promising young singers. His operatic roles in the 2025/26 season include Hebrew in Samson et Dalila for the Royal Ballet and Opera, Mr Flint in Billy Budd for the Glyndebourne Festival and Ormonte in Partenope for the English National Opera. On the concert stage, appearances include with the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, at Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia in Valencia, a tour with Il Pomo d’Oro, performances with the Monteverdi Choir and Orchestra, and a concert with the London Symphony Orchestra. William made his Opera Rara debut as Fiesco in the recording of Verdi’s 1857 Simon Boccanegra.

READ THE REVIEWS!

Read the 4 and 5 star reviews about David and Will’s breakout performances in Simon Boccanegra Read more by scanning the QR code

13

Our latest opera recording.

A Verdi masterpiece as you’ve never heard it before.

This new recording is on another level entirely, with a compelling cast, an orchestra in full glory and a chorus alive to every dramatic moment…

LIMELIGHT | Editor’s Choice

Order this recording and many more at

opera-rara.com/shopcatalogue or by calling +44 020 7613 2858

8

th

Celebrating our 5 collaboration

Scan the QR code to listen to Opera Rara’s recordings featuring the BBC Symphony Orchestra

Photo of the 2015 performance of Leoncavallo’s Zazà with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and BBC Singers featuring Opera Rara’s Artist Ambassador Ermonela Jaho in the title role

“Rarely heard in recent decades, Zazà was ripe for reassessment, and Opera Rara does it justice… The BBC Symphony Orchestra transforms itself into a verismo ensemble… This is another gratifying success for Opera Rara...”

OPERA NEWS on the recording of Leoncavello’s Zazà in 2015

Share your PASSION for years to come.

By remembering Opera Rara in your will.

Registered Charity No. 261403

To learn more about leaving a lasting legacy at Opera Rara, please contact Zachary Vanderburg, Development Director zachary@opera-rara.com 29| 020 7613 2858

The Two Faces of Destiny

by Ditlev Rindom

“Destiny has a double face... a smile, an anguished sob? A mystery!”

Prunier

La rondine has long been considered an anomaly among Puccini’s mature operas.

Composed following an approach from Vienna’s Carltheater in October 1913, this story of a courtesan (Magda) who abandons her comfortable life in Paris for a younger man from the countryside (Ruggero) was initially conceived as a species of Italian opéra comique, featuring spoken dialogue in the style of Massenet’s Manon (1884). It thus marked a major stylistic departure for Puccini – a move reflecting the Carltheater’s status as the leading centre of Viennese operetta, where La rondine was intended to be given its world premiere in German.

Puccini soon abandoned the idea of spoken dialogue, but he retained many of the character types and plot devices typical of Silver Age operetta. Following Italy’s entry into the First World War in 1915, however, his original Viennese contract was declared null and void. The opera was eventually premiered, in Italian, in neutral Monte Carlo in March 1917, where it was warmly welcomed in spite of some wartime controversy over its Austrian origins. This first version soon became the ‘standard’, performed in major opera houses across the globe to this day.

Yet Puccini’s preferred configuration of La rondine was in fact a substantially different version, printed in 1921 but almost completely unknown today. Early performances in Italy of the 1917 version prompted the beginning of a complex revision process on Puccini’s part, one that would result in two later versions of the opera. For the second (1919), Puccini transformed the secondary tenor role of Prunier into a baritone, bringing the vocal makeup closer to that of La bohème (1896). He also adjusted and transposed the vocal lines in key ensembles, while revising the whole of Act Three to provide a more muted final scene: it now ended with a duet between Magda and Prunier rather than the face-to-face separation of the two lovers. Barely a month after hearing this second version in Vienna in October 1920, however, Puccini began preparing a third and final version. ‘A happy ending is impossible in La rondine’, he declared to his friend Sybil Seligman in HEAR ABOUT IT FROM THE EXPERTS

Ermonela Jaho, Carlo Rizzi and Ditlev Rindom speak about Puccini’s final version of La rondine 18

Scan the QR code to watch

November 1921, while describing the third act of this new third version as a ‘marvel’ to his colleague Riccardo Schnabl.

For the rest of his life, Puccini remained committed to the third version, which offered a total reimagination of what was heard at the 1917 premiere. But efforts to promote it were met with resistance, perhaps particularly given the opera’s chequered performance history. Erich Korngold expressed interest in premiering it in Hamburg, but the first performances would in fact not take place until April 1924 at the Teatro Verdi in Fiume: the small city in present-day Croatia that had recently become part of Italy under Mussolini. Soprano Linda Cannetti took the lead under conductor Umberto Berrettoni, with London’s Musical Digest declaring it a ‘magnificent success in the new version prepared by the author’. The minimal Italian press coverage failed to secure it a future, however. Puccini had been booked to oversee the production, but he was eventually unable to attend or promote the premiere (in part owing to symptoms of the throat cancer that would claim his life later that year), thus weakening this version’s chances of wider recognition.

The third version was later revived with great success in Kiel in 1927, but then its full score and orchestral parts were destroyed in the Allied bombing of Milan in 1943.

Today only a vocal score survives. For a production in Turin in 1994, Act Three was performed in a reorchestration by Lorenzo Ferrero, alongside Acts One and Two of the 1917 version; but a reconstruction of the entire 1921 version has, until now, never been attempted. As a result, Puccini’s final thoughts on La rondine have been overlooked in favour of his earliest efforts – this in stark contrast to Madama Butterfly, where the final revision has become the repertory staple. It is only through careful restoration – including Martin Fitzpatrick’s reorchestration of sections of Acts One and Three on the basis of the surviving vocal score and sketches – that it is now possible, for the first time in a century, to hear what could be regarded as the definitive La rondine.

In one important sense, though, the 1921 La rondine marks a return to the origins of the opera’s creation. The plot in 1921 in fact restores the very earliest idea of Magda’s story. When Puccini received the outline for the opera from librettists Heinz Reichert and Alfred Willner in early 1914, the final act, set on the Côte d’Azur, concluded with Ruggero’s brutal rejection of Magda after discovering her past with Rambaldo. Intriguingly, the plot in this original outline was also explicitly contemporary in setting, with abundant references to cars, telephones and other modern gadgets, a fact that partly explains the wealth of modern dance forms (such as the foxtrot and tango) that give the opera its distinctive feel in all three versions.

LIVES IN SONG: DONIZETTI

Dig into Donizetti’s life in our new podcast series exploring musicians’ biographies through their music Scan the QR code to listen

19

Working together with Italian librettist and translator Giuseppe Adami – who was given considerable licence in light of the peculiar genesis of the opera – Puccini gradually moved away from this violent denouement, also resetting the story in the Second Empire. Writing to Adami in late 1914, the composer dismissed Ruggero’s shock at discovering Magda’s past, asking ‘where did he find this woman, in a convent perhaps?’ The final scene was changed in 1917 to make Magda and Ruggero’s separation a decision taken by Magda after his proposal of marriage, giving the opera a bittersweet ending as Magda leaves the weeping Ruggero.

The idea of returning to the original scenario for the 1921 revision came at least in part from Willner. He complained to Puccini in a letter of 1919 that the 1917 ending turned Ruggero into a feeble character, and that Act Three as a whole lacked intensity. Puccini did not take up this suggestion immediately; but a seed had been planted. What is more, his eventual revisions for 1921 were not simply limited to the plot – even if the Second Empire period was retained in all three versions. When Puccini began work again in late 1920, he initially returned to the Monte Carlo version, restoring Prunier as a tenor rather than a baritone. Yet he also maintained several of the adjustments to the vocal parts made for the second version, while further reworking the solo and chorus parts in Act Two. These revisions gave Prunier greater prominence throughout, including a new choral passage praising him as the ‘poet of love’ and comical attempts by several of the grisettes to seduce him. Puccini also extended the duet between Prunier and Lisette at the end of Act One, adding greater virtuosity to this charming moment of repose. In the climactic Act Two quartet, the chorus parts were also substantially revised to create the most opulent and sophisticated version of the ensemble.

Most radically, however, Puccini also reworked the entire musical structure of Act Three, albeit drawing extensively on the existing music of the 1917 version. The opening duet between Magda and Ruggero was partly transformed into an orchestral prelude, depicting the idyll of their life by the sea and echoing similar orchestral experiments in Manon Lescaut and Madama Butterfly. Magda and Ruggero embrace ecstatically in the now extended conclusion of their duet, but are interrupted by three saleswomen who arrive with luxury goods. These women are a satirical musical reminder of Magda’s previous life in Paris: a past that gradually, across the final act, presses in on her dreamlike new existence.

After Prunier and Lisette’s arrival at Magda’s hotel – a visit that in this version is directly instigated by Magda’s patron Rambaldo – a newly composed duet between Magda and Rambaldo unfolds. This set piece offers Rambaldo some of the lyrical intensity his character had earlier shunned, as he tries to lure Magda back to Paris by evoking imagery of the swallow’s migration. At the same time, however, the number gives a new symmetry to the opera; all five principal characters appear in this final act, and there are several musical reminiscences of Act One. LIVES IN SONG: PUCCINI

Our latest Opera Insider series has just begun, this season exploring Puccini’s life and works!

Scan the QR code to watch on YouTube 20

The duet that follows between Magda and Ruggero again reworks existing music, but with an ending very different from that of the 1917 version. Ruggero discovers Magda’s former life via a letter and throws in her face some money Rambaldo had left. This violent humiliation recalls the gambling scene that concludes the second act of La traviata (1853), much as the letter that Magda leaves Ruggero at the end of the second version echoes Violetta’s farewell to Alfredo earlier in the same act.

Yet there is no protective pater familias to defend Magda here. Her humiliation is shocking and total: she is thrown to the floor and crawls begging for Ruggero’s understanding. Lisette eventually comes to comfort her mistress, revealing greater tenderness to their relationship and reminding Magda that time can bring healing as well as loss. But an uncertain future still awaits Magda despite Rambaldo’s pleas for forgiveness.

Magda’s decision to leave Ruggero in the 1917 La rondine has appealed to recent scholars and directors precisely because her agency seems to distinguish her from more victimised heroines such as Manon Lescaut or Butterfly. There is no painful rejection for the 1917 Magda: instead, she makes a considered decision to leave a broken idyll that she believes would satisfy nobody (including perhaps Magda herself, the Parisian sophisticate now contemplating a sedate life in Montauban). At the same time, this less tragic ending has for some seemed a more appropriate conclusion to a work that in every version offers an unusual mixture: on the one hand, of light-heartedness and character types drawn from operetta; on the other an emotional intensity and orchestral sophistication typical of Puccini’s serious works. Compared to this, the 1921 La rondine can seem conservative: a return to a type of female heroine who populated the nineteenth-century stage – one whose fate is decided by men, and who clings to romantic love even in the face of physical abuse.

Why, then, Puccini’s decisive return to the original Viennese plot? Why the commitment to tragedy? At one level, the 1921 finale brings Magda strangely closer to Liù in Turandot, the opera Puccini began composing in early 1921. The later opera offers an even more extreme example of a character clinging obsessively to the ideal of romantic love: Liù’s self-sacrifice and devotion are directly contrasted with the princess Turandot. Perhaps, one might speculate, the postwar context made this deep commitment to older ideals newly appealing as a theatrical idea.

750,000 Italian lives had been lost in the conflict, and Italy’s theatrical industry was battered by economic challenges. Romantic idealism may now have seemed more compelling as a dramatic theme – especially when juxtaposed with the materialistic values of Magda’s Parisian social circle.

And yet, compared to Liù, Magda is still unmistakably an experienced woman of the world: after all, she made a deeply pragmatic decision about her limited choices in pursuing financial security with Rambaldo. As becomes clear in her Act One aria, PUCCINI’S LE WILLIS

“...not to hear it would mean missing out on some of Puccini’s best music” - Opera Scan the QR code to listen

21

‘Ore dolci e divine’, however, she is now aware of the passing of time and yearns to experience the romantic intensity of her youth – even if a distant voice warned her as a poor grisette not to succumb to fantasies (a detail directly echoed at the end of Act Two).

Rather than a naïve victim, then, Magda understands perfectly well the dangers of her decisions. She also knows first-hand the social codes that she has chosen to reject: from the irony and cynicism of Prunier and company; to the bourgeois morality embodied by Ruggero, which ultimately leaves no room for a compromised woman such as herself. No pure happiness, perhaps, can be found for a woman who has understood this existential bind. And yet, for three months at least, the fiction is sustained until reality inevitably breaks through. La rondine in this final version thus has a theatrical symmetry lacking in the 1917 version, but moves more decisively from comedy to tragedy, from operetta to opera, across its three acts. Rather than a prelude to Magda’s return, the comic elements in Act Three here become echoes of a world Magda is determined to leave.

‘Destiny has a double face’, Prunier declares in Act One when he reads Magda’s palm; ‘a smile, an anguished sob? A mystery!’ The different versions of La rondine offer different answers to this question, giving audiences today a choice about which of Magda’s stories speaks most meaningfully to them. Is the pursuit of romantic love a bittersweet diversion from modern life or a tragic act of resistance? For Puccini, facing his own late middle age, the answer seemed to have been the latter. One century on from its largely forgotten premiere, modern audiences can now discover Puccini’s beloved opera in its most sophisticated and considered form – one that stages Paris in all its glitter and allure, only to reject it for the dream of wordless passion.

Discover another side of Puccini.

Listen to Opera Rara’s latest podcast on your favourite platform.

MAKING OF LE WILLIS

Go into the studio for the recording of Puccini’s very first opera, featuring Ermonela Jaho Scan the QR code to watch on YouTube 22

BBC Symphony Orchestra For over 90 years, the BBC Symphony Orchestra has been a driving force in the British musical landscape, championing contemporary works and highlighting neglected composers as well as performing well-loved works at the heart of classical music. A key presence at the BBC Proms, the BBC SO performs regularly throughout each season, including the First and Last Nights.

The orchestra presents a distinctive season of concerts at the Barbican, where it is Associate Orchestra. Performances with Chief Conductor Sakari Oramo in the 25/26 season include Mahler’s Ninth Symphony, Mozart’s Requiem, violin concertos

by Adès and Lindberg performed by Christian Tetzlaff and Lisa Batiashvili, music by Brahms, Coleridge-Taylor, Damström, Stravinsky and more.

Other highlights include John Luther Adams’s Become Ocean with Principal Guest Conductor Dalia Stasevska, the UK premiere of Julia Wolfe’s unEarth, piano concertos by Bartók and Rachmaninov with pianists Yeol Eum Son and Gabriela Montero and conducted by Sakari Oramo and Kristiina Poska respectively.

Saxophonist Jess Gillam gives the UK premiere of Anna Clyne’s Glasslands, and there are world premieres of BBC co-commissioned works by Ryan Latiner and Joseph Phibbs. A Total Immersion day focuses on new and recent music from Iceland, with a world premiere from Ólafur Arnalds.

The BBC SO performs across the UK and internationally, with most concerts broadcast on BBC Radio 3 and BBC Sounds, and gives regular free concerts at Maida Vale Studios.

The BBC SO offers innovative education and community work, including involvement in BBC Ten Pieces and BBC Young Composer, and works with schools, young people and families in East London ahead of the move to its new home in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, Stratford.

DONIZETTI’S CATERINA CORNARO

“The drama moves at a breathless pace in this first studio recording...” - The Sunday Times Listen here by scanning the QR code

25

First Violins Stephen Bryant, leader Cellerina Park Philip Brett Jeremy Martin Jenny King Celia Waterhouse Colin Huber Shirley Turner Ni Do Molly Cockburn James Wicks Stuart McDonald Jessica Coleman Ruth Schulten

Second Violins Heather Hohmann Ray Liu Rose Hinton Vanessa Hughes Danny Fajardo Lucy Curnow Tammy Se Caroline Cooper Victoria Hodgson Nihat Agdach Iona Allen Kate Cole

Violas Wenhan Jiang Philip Hall Joshua Hayward Nikos Zarb Natalie Taylor Michael Leaver Carolyn Scott Mary Whittle Peter Mallinson Matthias Wiesner

Flutes Daniel Pailthorpe Fergus Davidson

Cellos Caroline Dearnley Tamsy Kaner Graham Bradshaw Clare Hinton Michael Atkinson Morwenna Del Mar Angus McCall Jane Lindsay

Cor Anglais Emily Cockbill

Double Basses Nicholas Bayley Richard Alsop Anita Langridge Michael Clarke Beverley Jones Lewis Reid

Bassoons Roberto Giaccaglia Graham Hobbs

Piccolo Kathleen Stevenson Oboes Alison Teale Imogen Smith

Clarinets Richard Hosford Jonathan Parkin Bass Clarinet Thomas Lessels

Horns Martin Owen Michael Murray James Pillai Nicholas Hougham Mark Wood Trumpets Niall Keatley Joseph Atkins Martin Hurrell Trombones Robert Moseley Dan Jenkins Bass Trombone Robert O'Neill Tuba Sam Elliott Timpani Stefan Becket Percussion Alex Neal Fiona Ritchie Joe Cooper Harps Elizabeth Bass Piano Elizabeth Burley Celeste Caroline Jaya-Ratnam

DONIZETTI’S BELISARIO

“Nicola Alaimo leads one of the finest casts Opera Rara has assembled for Donizetti.” - The Sunday Times Scan the QR code to stream the recording 26

BBC Singers The BBC Singers has held a unique place at the heart of the UK’s choral scene since 1924, collaborating with many of the world’s leading composers, conductors and soloists.

Awarded the Royal Philharmonic Society’s prestigious Ensemble Award in March 2024, they are also celebrating their 100 year anniversary in the 24/25 season.

Based at the BBC’s Maida Vale Studios, the choir records music for broadcast on BBC Radio 3, alongside work for other network radio, television and commercial release. It also presents an annual series of concerts at Milton Court Concert Hall, performs free concerts in London and appears at major festivals in the UK and abroad.

The BBC Singers promotes a 50:50 gender policy for composers whose music it performs, and champions composers from all backgrounds. Recent concerts and recordings include music by Soumik Datta, Joanna Marsh, Reena Esmail, Sun Keting and Roderick Williams, and recent collaborations have featured Laura Mvula, Clare Teal, and the South Asian dance company Akademi. The Choir recently joined voices from the popular children's programme Hey Duggee to release a Christmas single, and appeared as guests on Hey Duggee’s ‘The Choir Badge’ episode in 2023.

As part of the BBC’s plan to open its new BBC Music Studios at East Bank, the BBC Singers work closely with the local community through a programme of local music education, outreach events and live performances.

The BBC Singers appears annually at the BBC Proms. Alongside their celebrated annual performances at the First and Last Nights of the Proms, the 2024 season saw them perform with the Southbank Sinfonia at the much-loved CBeebies Proms and the highly anticipated performance of Beethoven’s Ninth by heart with Aurora Orchestra, Bruckner’s motets with Principal Guest Conductor Owain Park, and a late night with Eric Whitacre for a premiere of his brand new work, Eternity in an Hour, as well as celebrating their centenary with Chief Conductor Sofi Jeannin in Bristol.

BELLINI’S ADELSON E SALVINI

“Here is another forgotten opera brilliantly performed...” - BBC Music Magazine Purchase the recording by scanning the QR code 27

Soprano Eleanor Bray Rachel Chapman Jennifer Clark Anna Crookes Alice Gribbin Hannah King Rebecca Lea* Clare Lloyd-Griffiths* Eve McGrath Helen Neeves Olivia Robinson Emma Tring* Emily Wenman

Mezzo-soprano Hannah Beddoe Izzi Blain Helena Cooke* Melissa Davies Stephanie Franklin Lucy Gibbs Ciara Hendrick* Ruth Kiang Kathy Nicholson Gabriella Noble Lorna Price

Tenor Pete Davoren* Benjamin Durrant* Jon English Jack Harberd Archie Inns Robert Jenkins Tom Kelly William Morgan Graham Neal Tom Raskin* Edward Saklavata* Julian Smith

Bass Charlie Baigent Ed Ballard Greg Bannan Francis Brett Tim Dickinson Charles Gibbs Adam Green Jamie W. Hall Thomas Nießer Edward Price Gregory Skidmore Philip Tebb *step-out singers

BBC Singers Staff CHIEF CONDUCTOR Sofi Jeannin PRINCIPAL GUEST CONDUCTORS Bob Chilcott Owain Park ASSOCIATE COMPOSER Roderick Williams ARTIST IN RESIDENCE Eric Whitacre ARTISTS IN ASSOCIATION Anna Lapwood Abel Selaocoe

STAFF Director

Jonathan Manners Producer

Ayesha Labrom Ensemble Manager

Ellie Sperling

Acting Assistant Ensemble Manager

Moya Morrison Assistant Producer

Elizabeth Westcott Librarian

Jess Norton Raybould

LEONCAVALLO’S ZAZÀ

“Ermonela Jaho throws heart and soul into her singing as tender Zazà.” - Financial Times Scan the QR code to stream the recording 28

BBC Symphony Orchestra Staff CHIEF CONDUCTOR Sakari Oramo

STAFF continued

PRINCIPAL GUEST CONDUCTOR Dalia Stasevska

Stage Manager

Senior Stage Manager

Ross Hendrie

Michael Officer Commercial, Rights and Business Affairs Executive

GÜNTER WAND CONDUCTING CHAIR Semyon Bychkov

Geraint Heap

Business Accountant

Nimisha Ladwa

STAFF

BBC London Orchestras and Choirs Marketing and Learning

Bill Chandler

Kate Finch

Head of Marketing, Learning and Publications

Director

Head of Artistic Planning

Communications Manager

Orchestra Manager

Publicist

Orchestra Personnel Manager

Marketing Managers

Jo Hawkins

Emma Gait

Freya Edgeworth

Susanna Simmons

Emily Caket Sarah Hirons

Murray Richmond Concerts Manager

Marelle McCallum

Marketing Executives

Jenny Barrett Kathryn Reed

Tours Manager

Kathryn Aldersea

Marketing Co-ordinator

Orchestra and Tours Assistant

Branwen Thistlewood

Mary Owen

Data Intern

Music Libraries Manager

Joshua Oyekunle

Mark Millidge

Senior Learning Producer

Orchestral Librarian

Yasmin Hemmings

Julia Simpson

Learning Producers

Planning Co‑ordinator

Siân Bateman Catriona Cayley Melanie Fryer Laura Mitchell

Nadim Jauffur Chorus Manager

Jo Harris

Chief Producer

Assistant Learning Producers

Ann McKay

Catherine Humphrey (parental leave) Dylan Barrett-Chambers

Assistant Producer

Ben Warren

Learning Trainees

Jane Ihegbu Marie Powell

THE BBC SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA AT THE BARBICAN

The BBC SO presents a distinctive season of concerts at the Barbican, where it is Associate Orchestra Read more by scanning the QR code 29

About Opera Rara Opera Rara’s mission is to restore, record, perform and promote the lost operatic heritage of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

Opera Rara is a unique combination of opera company, recording label and live operatic archaeologist. We search for neglected operatic masterpieces and restore them to life for contemporary audiences to enjoy and other opera companies to explore. Our work has led to a fundamental revaluation of composers such as Donizetti, Pacini, Offenbach, Rossini and Mercadante, changing the way in which these figures are perceived internationally.

In 2024, Opera Rara was named Gramophone’s Label of the Year. Our catalogue comprises over 100 titles, including more than 60 complete opera recordings. Our artistic success has been recognised through major awards, in the last decade alone at the International Opera Awards (Best Opera Recording) for Mercadante’s Il proscritto (2023), Rossini’s Semiramide (2019), Donizetti’s Les Martyrs (2016) and Offenbach’s Fantasio (2015); International Classical Music Award for Semiramide (Best Opera, 2019) and for Ermonela Jaho’s debut recital album Anima Rara (Best Vocal Music Recording, 2021); Opus Klassik (Best Recording) for La Princesse de Trébizonde (2024) and Semiramide (2019) and at the OPER! Awards (Best Recording) for Offenbach’s La Princesse de Trébizonde (2024) and Donizetti’s L’Ange de Nisida (2019).

Opera Rara’s Artistic Director Carlo Rizzi was appointed in 2019. Since then he has recorded the original 1912 version of Leoncavallo’s Zingari and Donizetti’s L’esule di Roma as well as Mercadante’s Il proscritto, whose discovery and restoration he championed, and eight new volumes of Donizetti Songs.

Internationally renowned soprano Renée Fleming, who made her complete opera recording debut with Opera Rara in 1994 in Donizetti’s Rosmonda d’Inghilterra, is our Honorary Artist Patron. In 2022, marking Donizetti’s 225th birthday, we announced Ermonela Jaho and Michael Spyres as Artist Ambassadors, commemorating their long and acclaimed work with the company.

Our ground-breaking work is only made possible by the generosity of our supporters. Opera Rara is a charity that receives no public funding. Nearly £1M needs to be raised annually. By supporting Opera Rara, you become an essential member of the Opera Rara family and join us on a journey of operatic discovery.

Learn more at opera-rara.com.

OUR ARTIST AMBASSADORS IN OPERA NOW MAGAZINE

Ermonela Jaho and Michael Spyres speak about Opera Rara and more upcoming great discoveries Scan the QR code to read more 31

Opera Rara’s Trustees, Patrons and Staff ARTISTIC DIRECTOR Carlo Rizzi

STAFF

CHIEF EXECUTIVE Henry Little

FINANCE DIRECTOR

LABEL and PRODUCTION DIRECTOR

Aurelie Baujean Irene Cook

DEVELOPMENT and COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR

Zachary Vanderburg

PHILANTHROPY MANAGER

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Charles Knowles

Charles Alexander CBE, Chairman Philip Eisenbeiss Anthony Freud OBE Glenn Hurstfield Adolfo Laurenti Bruce Mauleverer KC Simon Mortimore KC Alison Nicol Islée Oliva Salinas Terence Sinclair Nicholas Thomas

DEVELOPMENT and EVENTS COORDINATOR

Orlando Querobino Vas

CONSULTANTS

PRESS, PR and SOCIAL MEDIA CONSULTANT

Moë Faulkner

CASTING CONSULTANT

Jesús Iglesias Noriega

DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE

REPERTOIRE CONSULTANT

David Hall Glenn Hurstfield Islée Oliva Salinas Terence Sinclair Lucy Stout John Tierney

Roger Parker

ARTIST AMBASSADORS Ermonela Jaho Michael Spyres HONORARY ARTIST PATRON Renée Fleming Opera Rara’s Donizetti Patron, His Excellency Inigo Lambertini, Ambassador of Italy to the United Kingdom awards Opera Rara’s Artistic Director Carlo Rizzi with the Star of Italy

DONIZETTI PATRON His Excellency, Inigo Lambertini the Italian Ambassador to the United Kingdom

HEAR FROM OUR ARTISTIC DIRECTOR CARLO RIZZI

Carlo Talks is a series of interviews with our Artistic Director and the artists from our 55 year history 32

Scan the QR code to watch

Opera Rara’s Supporters THANK YOU!

Opera Rara’s work is only made possible by the generosity of our supporters, who believe in our mission to restore, record, perform and promote the forgotten operatic heritage of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. We would like to take this opportunity to thank those individuals and foundations who have made a gift to our Annual Fund*. Your continued support is vital to our success.

A full list of Opera Rara’s current Annual Fund supporters can be found at: www.opera-rara.com/list-of-supporters.

PATRONS

LIFETIME GUARDIANS Opera Rara is particularly grateful to those individuals and organisations who have been exceedingly generous and have been guardians of our work since 1970.

BENEFACTOR

Jon & Julia Aisbitt Allan Heinberg∞ Yvonne Horsfall Turner◊ Sara Naudi & Prof. Mark Layton Peter Rosenthal Terence & Sian Sinclair Peter Thompson

Charles Alexander CBE Foyle Foundation Carlo Grosso Michael Hartnall Glenn Hurstfield The Monument Trust Sir Peter Moores & the Peter Moores Foundation Stefan Olsson & John Tierney Sir Simon & Lady Virginia Robertson

in honour of Carmen Giannattasio

Gerry Wakelin & Ivor Samuels DEVOTEE

Charles Alexander CBE Timothy Congdon Sir Vernon Ellis Harry Hyman Alan Jackson Leslie & Peter Macleod-Miller◊ Bruce & Sara Mauleverer David & Janet McCue∞ The Donizetti Society

GUARDIANS

Elena Baturina Carlo Grosso Stefan Olsson & John Tierney Andrea Pessino∞

in memory of its Chairman Alexander Weatherson

Imogen Rumbold Mark Walker

CIRCLE MEMBERS

AFICIONADO

Claus Ambos Malcolm Barnett Sir David Bean David Bernstein Roger Bramble Mackenzie Brown Anonymous Elizabeth Bunker John Chichester Sir Anthony Cleaver Marco Compagnoni

OPERA RARA CIRCLE

Philip Eisenbeiss Jenny Hodgson Carlo Rizzi & Lucy Stout Ditlev Rindom & Enrique Sacau Islée Oliva Salinas & Michael Buckley Sir Simon & Lady Virginia Robertson *The Annual Fund list is comprised of donors who gave at the Connoisseur level or higher from June 2024 to December 2025 ◊Gift in Kind ∞American Friend

YOUR GENEROSITY GIVES NEW VOICES THEIR RECORDING DEBUTS

Germán Enrique Alcántara made his acclaimed recording debut in Verdi’s 1857 Simon Boccanegra

Scan the QR code to hear about it from Germán 33

PATRONS

FRIENDS

AFICIONADO continued

Lady Lorraine Elborough-Cook Amanda Elder Eduard Herzog Jonathan Jempson Sarah & Christopher Knight Christopher Leslie Jonathan & Fangmin Macdonald David Macfarlane Lady Carolyn Newbigging David Pease Alan Sainer Lucie & Christopher Sims

CONNOISSEUR

Eleanor Cranmer & Nick Thomas Jeff & Emily Fergus Howard Gatiss Paul Giles Malcolm Herring Nicole Hoechli Adolfo Laurenti & Juliet Petrus Michele Leuenberger Louis Levene Henry Little and Prof. Maria M. Delgado Chris & Dominique Moore Simon Mortimore KC Alison Nicol Deborah Roslund Jackie & John Rothenberg Anonymous Mark Shaw

and special thanks to our many Contributor and Member Friends TRUSTS & FOUNDATIONS

FRIENDS ENTHUSIAST

Nicholas Berwin Anthony Freud and Colin Ure Marian Gilbart Read Glenn Hurstfield Hal Lindberg Sir Timothy and Lady Lloyd Jennifer Marling∞ James Power Bradley Sabel∞ Lord & Lady Sassoon David & Unni Spiller Lady Judith Swire Zachary Vanderburg & Felipe Ramos Barajas Mr Richard Anwyl Williams

With special thanks to

Yvonne Horsfall Turner for generously providing the rehearsal venue,

Stone House.

Members of the Opera Rara team with Artist Ambassador Ermonela Jaho, Artistic Director Carlo Rizzi and Chairman Charles Alexander at the Italian Embassy in London.

YOUR SUPPORT HELPS US SHOWCASE EMERGING ARTISTS

Soprano Ellie Neate makes her recording debut this season in Puccini’s 1921 version of La rondine.

Scan the QR code to watch an interview with Ellie 34

Take tonight’s magic home.

Stream Opera Rara’s recordings anytime, anywhere.

Spotify

Apple Music Classical

YouTube Music

From our friends at West Green House Opera

Nicola Alaimo sings Donizetti.

This June, hear new songs by Donizetti at Wigmore Hall.

Praised internationally for his commanding stage presence and vocal artistry, Italian bass-baritone Nicola Alaimo makes a welcome appearance at Wigmore Hall in a programme that brings together the wit, elegance and lyricism of early 19th-century Italian song.

Joined by pianist and Opera Rara’s Artistic Director Carlo Rizzi, with appearances by cellist Hetty Snell, Alaimo explores the rarely heard world of Donizetti’s solo songs alongside works by Rossini, Bellini, and Mercadante. The recital highlights the ingenuity and invention of composers best known for their operatic triumphs, yet whose songs are often neglected.

Tuesday 16 June | 1.00PM Nicola Alaimo bass-baritone Carlo Rizzi piano with Hetty Snell cello

Save the date and learn more at

opera-rara.com/events

booking starts at the end of January

No 11 Cloisters House 8 Battersea Park Road London SW8 4BG info@opera-rara.com +44 (0)20 7613 2858 Registered Charity No. 261403

2024

winner

opera-rara.com

Keep up-to-date with the BBC Symphony Orchestra To find out more about upcoming events and broadcast

visit bbc.co.uk/symphonyorchestra

You can hear recent performances by the BBC Symphony Orchestra on BBC Sounds and watch the First and Last Night of the BBC Proms on BBC iPlayer Instagram: @bbcsymphonyorchestra

facebook.com/BBCSO