VOICEBOX: Opera in Concert presents Giacomo Puccini’s La Rondine, a bittersweet tale of love in the demi-monde of Second Empire Paris.

NOTE: TWO PERFORMANCES – NEW DAYS OF THE WEEK – Thursday, March 20 (8 pm) and Friday, March 21 (8 pm) at Jeanne Lamon Hall, Trinity-St. Paul’s Centre.

“We are thrilled to continue our VOICEBOX: Opera in Concert debut season at this esteemed, acoustically excellent hall,” says OIC’s Guillermo Silva-Marin. “Named in honour of Tafelmusik’s late Music Director, the intimacy of the hall added enormous impact to our recent presentation of Alceste, and we look forward to these two performances of Puccini’s La Rondine starring the finest of Canada’s emerging artists.”

With Narmina Afandiyeva as Music Director and Pianist, the performance features debuting soprano Cassandra Amorim as Magda, she was heard as Mimì in Puccini’s La Bohème past summer with Summer Opera Lyric Theatre. Her maid Lisette is soprano Belle Cao, who was heard as Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni with Summer Opera Lyric Theatre in 2023. Debuting tenor Jeremy Scinocca stars as Magda’s true love Ruggero, and Marcus Tranquilli performs as Prunier, smitten by Lisette. Baritone Ryan Hofman will be heard as Rambaldo, Magda’s rich Parisian ‘protector.’ Hofman returns to OIC after appearing as Infernal God in Alceste. La Rondine also features Sebastien Belcourt, Joseph Ernst and Taylor Gibbs. Robert Cooper will direct the VOICEBOX: Opera in Concert Chorus, and Guillermo Silva-Marin will guide the cast as Dramatic Advisor.

La Rondine was commissioned as an operetta for the Karltheater in Vienna, though Puccini insisted on composing a ‘comic opera’ with no spoken dialogue and sung in Italian. However, the outbreak of World War I put the whole project in jeopardy and at last, the much-revised work was premiered at Salle Garnier in Monte Carlo in 1917. A favourite of sopranos, the aria ‘Che il bel sogno’ is a highlight and the Act II concertato ‘Bevo al tuo fresco sorriso’ brings to mind the sumptuous choral scene in Act II of La Bohème.

VOICEBOX: Opera in Concert is supported by the Jackman Foundation, Classical 96.3 FM Radio, the Canada Council for the Arts, the Ontario Arts Council, and the Toronto Arts Council. Tickets are available through RCM Tickets by calling 416-408-0208 or visiting in person at 273 Bloor Street West. Trinity-St. Paul’s Centre, located at 427 Bloor Street West near the intersection of Bloor Street West and Spadina Avenue, is wheelchair-accessible and conveniently close to public transit and municipal parking. For more details, please visit www.operainconcert.com.