Music
Ermonela Jaho sings Magda in the world premiere recording of the final version of Puccini's “La rondine”
Opera Rara has released a recording of the 1921 version, with reworked ensembles, new music and a more tragic ending. Carlo Rizzi conducts the BBC Symphony Orchestra.
By ANN Newsroom · Newsroom
October 30, 2026, 12:45 · Updated 19:02 · 1 min read
In brief
- The Albanian soprano sings the lead role of Magda de Civry, alongside tenor Iván Ayón-Rivas.
- The opera's third version differs markedly from the familiar 1917 one and for decades was considered unperformable.
- The orchestral score of this version was destroyed in a fire during World War II and was reconstructed by musicologists.
British label Opera Rara has released the world premiere recording of the final 1921 version of Giacomo Puccini's opera “La rondine,” with Albanian soprano Ermonela Jaho in the lead role of Magda de Civry. Alongside her are tenor Iván Ayón-Rivas as Ruggero Lastouc, Nicola Alaimo as Rambaldo, Juan Francisco Gatell as Prunier and Ellie Neate as Lisette.
A different ending for Magda
This version differs from the familiar 1917 score: it has reworked ensembles, newly composed music and a dramatically different, more tragic ending. The recording was made with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and the BBC Singers under conductor Carlo Rizzi, Opera Rara's artistic director. According to the label's website, the release was launched with a special evening on Oct. 29.
The opera premiered on March 27, 1917, at the Grand Théâtre de Monte Carlo and for a long time was treated as an operetta. According to Opera Rara, Puccini himself was never fully satisfied with the version known today and kept reworking it.
A score lost to fire
The two later versions were considered impossible to perform in full for decades: the orchestral score of the second version was missing, while that of the third was destroyed in a fire at the offices of publisher Sonzogno during World War II. The restoration was led by musicologist Ditlev Rindom, editor of Ricordi's new critical edition, working with Martin Fitzpatrick, who recreated the orchestration in the missing passages. New material from the second version is included in an appendix.
Jaho, described by The Economist as “the world's most acclaimed soprano,” thus brings audiences a “La rondine” that today's listeners have never known.
