La rondine

Magda's salon, Paris At a cocktail party hosted by the courtesan Magda, the poet Prunier expounds his theories on love. Magda's friends Yvette, Bianca and Suzy playfully mock him, while Lisette, Magda's maid, tells him he does not know what he is talking about. Prunier takes offence and Magda orders Lisette to leave. Prunier maintains that no one is immune to romantic love and sings the first verse of his latest song about Doretta, who rejected a king as her suitor because of the value she placed on true love. He does not know how to finish the song, so Magda takes over and provides the second verse: she recounts how Doretta falls in love with a student (Aria: Chi il bel sogno di Doretta). Magda's guests are charmed by her performance and her long-term protector Rambaldo gives her a pearl necklace. Lisette enters to announce the arrival of a young man – the son of an old school friend of Rambaldo. Lisette is ordered by Rambaldo to bring in the guest. Suddenly nostalgic, Magda recalls her life as a young girl and happy evenings spent dancing at Bullier's, where she first experienced love (Aria: Ore dolci e divine). Some of the guests suggest that Prunier should compose a song based on Magda's story but he declares a preference for songs about perverse heroines, such as Berenice or Salome. Prunier demonstrates his skills at palmistry to some of the girls, while Lisette brings in the visitor, Ruggero. He has an introduction from his father for Rambaldo. Prunier reads Magda's pal…

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