Opera in three acts to a libretto by Giuseppe Adami, Alfred Maria Willner and Heinz Reichert. First performance: Monte Carlo, Théâtre de l’Opéra, 27 March, 1917. Two more versions.

In the Autumn of 1913, in Vienna to follow the preparation of La fanciulla del West, Puccini met the directors of the Carl-Theater, one of the most famous operetta theatres. The two, who had recently also founded a publishing house, made him a proposition, for a considerable fee, of writing an operetta. Puccini made the signing of the contract dependant on the approval of the libretto, which was submitted to him more than once. Unsatisfied, he decided that Rondine had to be a genuine work and relied on Giuseppe Adami for the Italian text. The musical composition began in the Spring of 1914 and ended in 1915. The premiere was postponed several times due to the outbreak of the war.

The world premiere, in a neutral country, was greeted with enthusiasm, and so also the first Italian premiere, on 2 June, 1917. Puccini continued to work even afterwards on the score, especially trying to find the right conclusion for the plot.
The author always showed a predilection for La rondine. The work has been lacking from the scene for many years, only recently seeing a deserved revival.