Il Trittico (La Scala)

Conducted by Riccardo Chailly
Directed by Luca Ronconi
Starring Juan Pons, Anna Maria Popescu and Leo Nucci
Sung in Italian with English subtitles
3 hrs 8 mins plus one intermission

“Il Trittico” (The Triptych) is a gem-box collection of three one-act operas: “Il Tabarro,” “Suor Angelica,” and “Gianni Schicchi.” Composer Giacomo Puccini intended that the three always be performed as a set, and was infuriated when they were presented separately. The first, “Il Tabarro,” is a dark and brooding tale of clandestine passion, full of violence and grit associated with verismo opera. “Suor Angelica” (Puccini’s personal favorite) starts with the deeply personal sacrifice of a nun and ends as a sublime tale of religious redemption. The evening ends with “Gianni Schicchi” (the popular favorite), a gleefully comedic farce on greed and corruption that unfailingly sends its audience away with smiles on their faces. Synopsis Act 1: “Il tabarro” On Michele’s freight barge, Paris. The barges are busy unloading. Giorgetta, Michele’s young wife, is vexed by her husband’s demonstrations of affection. During a break, she offers a drink to the barge workers – Tinca, Talpa and Luigi. She dances with Luigi, her secret lover. Frugola enters, looking for her husband Talpa, and then leaves. Left alone with Giorgetta, Luigi arranges their next nocturnal rendezvous. Giorgetta retires to her cabin, waiting for her husband to fall asleep. But Michele stays on deck. He suspects that Giorgetta is unfaithful. He lights his pipe. Luigi takes this as the agreed signal and comes aboard. Michele attacks him, forces him to confess his guilt, and then strangles him. He hides Luigi’s body under his cloak. Giorgetta, who has heard the scuffle, joins her husband on deck and asks him to take her, as he used to do, into his arms. Michele opens his cloak, out of which rolls Luigi’s corpse. Michele pushes his wife’s face close to that of her slain lover. Act II: “Suor Angelica” In a convent. Suor Angelica joins her fellow nuns who are praying in the chapel. The sisters confide their petty, worldly desires to one another. Suor Angelica alone declares she has none, but they all know she is lying. Of noble birth, Suor Angelica was sent to the convent as a punishment and has not heard anything from her family since then. Seemingly resigned, she has suffered in this exile for seven years. One of the sisters announces that a luxurious carriage has stopped at the entrance to the convent. Suor Angelica is seized with anxiety. The abbess calls Suor Angelica to the parlor. Her old aunt the Princess enters, haughtily asking her niece to sign a renunciation of any claim to her family’s estate. Suor Angelica tries to obtain some sign of affection, but the inflexible old lady merely brings up the family’s grievance against her niece: that she bore a child out of wedlock. Suor Angelica asks about her child, who was snatched from her. Impassive and cruel, the Princess casually informs her that the little boy died of a disease two years ago. When the Princess has left, Suor Angelica collapses in despair. She drinks a potion of poisonous herbs. She implores the Virgin Mary to show her some sign of forgiveness. A miracle occurs. In the church filled with light the Virgin appears, preceded by a child. INTERMISSION Act III: “Gianni Schicchi” The house of the late Buoso Donato, Florence, Italy. Around the corpse are gathered Buoso’s grieving relatives. They are worried by rumors that Buoso may have left all his wealth to the friars. A frantic search begins for his will, which is found by his nephew Rinuccio. As a reward, Rinuccio asks his family for permission to marry his beloved Lauretta, daughter of Gianni Schicchi. The testament is opened: all Buoso’s possessions are to go to the friars. Rinuccio suggests asking advice from his future father-in-law, renowned for his cunning. Gianni Schicchi arrives, accompanied by his daughter Lauretta. The snobbish old aunt Zita declares she opposed the wedding. Schicchi is offended, and is about to storm out, but his daughter begs him to stay. Making sure that Buoso’s death has not yet been made known to the officials, Schicchi assumes the dead man’s identity– but not before reminding the family that persons found guilty of false evidence are punished by amputation of a hand and exiled. When the Notary arrives, Schicchi imitates Buoso’s voice and dictates his last wishes, leaving all of his most valuable possessions to his “good friend, Gianni Schicchi.” Schicchi keeps the furious relatives at bay by subtly reminding them that each of their hands (and Italian citizenships) depend on their cooperation in the farce. The Notary gone, Schicchi chases everybody out of the house, which is now his property. Only Rinuccio and Lauretta remain. Addressing the audience, Schicchi explains that he has woven this trick to help the two young lovers, and therefore asks for his guilt to be weighed in light of his good intentions.