In Two Parts

Puccini's 'Il Trittico'
as seen by Michieletto and Rustioni,
reviewed by GIUSEPPE PENNISI

Il Trittico ('The triptych') by Giacomo Puccini is one of the most difficult works to stage. (See 'Daring and Bold', 26 August 2014.) Puccini started to conceive three one-act operas immediately after writing Tosca. At that time, one-act operas were fashionable and successful. In his original inspiration, his work would have been based on Dante's Divine Comedy with the three operas dealing, respectively with Hell, Purgatory and Paradise. Puccini was a slow worker. When, some ten years later, the project began to take shape, Europe was in the midst of World War I and Puccini's private life was troubled by the death of his son and of his sister, as well as by family difficulties — his wife had discovered one of his out-of-wedlock affairs. Thus, the theme of Il Trittico became death: violent homicide in Il Tabarro, tragic suicide in Suor Angelica and grotesque parody of a middle class society around the 'last will and testament' of a wealthy relative in Gianni Schicchi. Often, the three one act operas are not performed together (as originally intended) but with other works, even by composers other than Puccini.

Roberto Frontali as Michele (centre) in Puccini's 'Il Tabarro' at Teatro dell'Opera di Roma. Photo © 2016 Yasuko Kageyama

A full performance of Il Trittico is an impervious affair: it requires a Mahler symphony-sized orchestra and some thirty characters (sung by over twenty soloists). The score is extremely complex. In the vocal area Il Trittico spans from traditional Italian opera arias, duets and concertato to Sprechgesang, to polyphony and even atonality bordering on the twelve note row system. Il Trittico was planned to be premiered in Rome, but due to World War I conditions, its first staging was at New York Metropolitan Opera on 14 December 1918. It reached Rome about a month later.

Patricia Racette as Giorgetta and Roberto Frontali as Michele in Puccini's 'Il Tabarro' at Teatro dell'Opera di Roma. Photo © 2016 Yasuko Kageyama

The present staging is a co-production between Teatro dell'Opera di Roma, Copenhagen Royal Theater and the Vienna an der Wien Theater. The basic concept of the stage director, Damiano Michieletto, who worked hand-in-hand with conductor Daniele Rustioni, is that Il Trittico is a single opera in two parts. The first part encompasses both Il Tabarro and Suor Angelica, and Gianni Schicchi, after the intermission, forms the second part. The action is today in a single set by Paolo Fantin, mainly featuring containers. In Il Tabarro the containers are on a harbor front, in Suor Angelica they become a women's jail where the protagonist has been secluded for seven years (without being informed of the death of her son), and in Gianni Schicchi they are covered by wallpaper to create a Florentine duplex apartment owned by a rich man. The characters are poor or even destitute in the first part. In the second part, they are lower middle class sliding to poverty; thus, they are so interested in the 'last will and testament' of their wealthy relative. The costumes by Carla Teti and the lighting by Alessandro Carletti are very telling. Finally, a child is often present in the action: the memory of a dead child in Il Tabarro and Suor Angelica, and a spoiled little brat in Gianni Schicchi. Thus, the theme of innocence is added to the theme of death.

A scene from Puccini's 'Suor Angelica' at Teatro dell'Opera di Roma. Photo © 2016 Yasuko Kageyama

No doubt, it is a daring and innovative reading of Il Trittico. The Rome audience responded with ovations, even though a few music reviewers were critical. The main novelty is that the combination of staging and music shows how Puccini was closely in contact with the expressionism of the so called 'Second Viennese School'.

Patricia Racette as Suor Angelica and Violeta Urmana as the Princess in Puccini's 'Suor Angelica' at Teatro dell'Opera di Roma. Photo © 2016 Yasuko Kageyama

Among the female voices, a special mention should go to Patricia Racette, a consummate singing actor and a Metropolitan star; she is both Giorgetta in Il Tabarro and the title role in Suor Angelica; she has a very flexible register with all the features required for Puccini's operas. Violeta Urmana (as the Princess in Suor Angelica) is remarkable for the management of her transition from dramatic soprano roles — she was a splendid Isolde in Rome some ten years ago — to mezzo parts reaching a very low alto register.

A scene from Puccini's 'Gianni Schicchi' at Teatro dell'Opera di Roma. Photo © 2016 Yasuko Kageyama

In the male group, the salient singers are Roberto Frontali (Michele in Il Tabarro and the title role in Gianni Schicchi) and Maxim Aksenov (Luigi in Il Tabarro). As Rinuccio in Gianni Schicchi, I would have preferred a more lyric and sweeter tenor than Antonio Poli; maybe he was not having a very good night on 17 April 2016. I hope he did not venture into too deep and too spinto a repertory with any adverse effects on his voice.