Ermonela Jaho gives a tragic twist to Puccini's La rondine

Ermonela Jaho

Iván Ayón-Rivas, Ermonela Jaho, Carlo Rizzi and the BBC SO

By Peter Quantrill, 09 December 2025

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“Jaho has left us with a compelling, definitive idea of what Puccini might have had in mind”

Reviewed at Barbican Hall, London on 5 December 2025

Puccini, La rondine

Opera Rara

Carlo Rizzi, Conductor

BBC Symphony Orchestra

BBC Singers

Ermonela Jaho, Magda

Ellie Neate, Lisette

Iván Ayón-Rivas, Ruggero

Juan Francisco Gatell, Prunier

Julieth Lozano Rolong, Bianca

Joanna Harries, Suzy

Jessica Robinson, Yvette

Nicola Alaimo, Rambaldo

David Shipley, Périchaud

Robert Lewis, Gobin

William Thomas, Crébillon

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This is the 27th Donizetti opera given the Opera Rara treatment and their ability to spot a hidden gem remains as adroit as ever.

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Where Bellini started: Opera Rara's Adelson e Salvini

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Markus Bothe’s Botticelli-inspired production fuses tableau vivant aesthetics with Jörg Halubek’s surgical musical precision, offering a peerless, vivid tribute to the fragrant dawn of opera.

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Peter Quantrill

Peter Quantrill is a regular contributor to Gramophone, The Strad and other journals. Recent programme notes have been published by the Salzburg and Edinburgh festivals, the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Royal Ballet. He also writes about music and musicians for many record labels including Eloquence, Delphian, Signum, Danacord and Brilliant Classics. Once unplugged from his hi-fi, he can generally be found in a London concert hall or at the cricket, and he tweets (sporadically) @PeterQuantrill.