a courtesan would make her unacceptable to Ruggero's family, and possibly to Ruggero if he knew who she really was. As Ruggero leaves to post his letter she meditates on her dilemma, torn between her desire to tell Ruggero everything, her wish not to hurt him and her fear of losing his love. Prunier and Lisette arrive. Lisette has had a brief and disastrous career as a music-hall singer: her performance in Nice the previous evening was a catastrophe. She and Prunier bicker with each other while waiting for Magda. When Magda appears, Lisette begs for her job back, and Magda consents. Prunier expresses surprise that Magda can be happy away from Paris, and delivers a message to Magda from Rambaldo: he is happy to take her back on any terms. Magda refuses to listen. Prunier takes his leave of Lisette (first arranging a rendezvous with her for that evening) and Lisette resumes her duties as Magda's maid. Ruggero returns with a letter from his mother, in which she says that if Ruggero's fiancée has all the virtues he has described to her, he will have a blissful marriage. She looks forward to welcoming the couple to her home and sends Magda a kiss. Magda is unable to keep her secret any longer. She tells Ruggero about her past and declares that she can never be his wife – she would cause his parents too much grief. Ruggero implores Magda not to abandon him (Ma come puoi lasciarmi), but Magda is adamant that they cannot remain together, and that Ruggero must return home. Like a swallow, she flies back to Rambaldo and her old life, leaving Ruggero behind, devastated. Subsequent performance history Revised versions In the second version, which was premiered at Teatro Massimo, Palermo, in 1920, Prunier is the deciding force in Magda's decision to leave Ruggero in Act 3, and she departs without seeing her lover. In the third version of the opera, Puccini changed the final act again, adding a scene in which Rambaldo comes to beg Magda to return to him, and ending with Ruggero's discovery (via an anonymous telegram) of who Magda really is, his angry rebuke of her, and his decision to leave her for ever. At the end of this version, Magda is left alone with Lisette. The third version was not heard until 1994 in Turin. Moreover, a fire at Casa Sonzogno