First performed December 14th 1918, Metropolitan Opera New York
Il tabarro (The Cloak) Libretto by Giuseppe Adami after the play La Houpelande (1910) by Didier Gold
Suor Angelica (Sister Angelica)
Libretto by Giovacchino Forzano
Gianni Schicchi Libretto by Giovacchino Forzano after an episode from Dante's The Divine Comedy (1321)
Sung in Italian with German surtitles
Duration: 3 3/4 hours with two intervals
Il tabarro (The Coat) The Michele and Giorgetta live on a boat on the Seine. The death of their only child has taken its toll on their marriage. The men have a drink when they have finished their work. Frugola arrives, looking for her husband. Tinca is determined to get drunk. Frugola and Giorgetta dream of a better life. Giorgetta reminisces about her childhood; she has found a kindred spirit in Luigi, who grew up close to where she used to live. Frugola and Talpa go home. Luigi promises to come and see Giorgetta again later. She is to strike a match to signal that she is alone. Michele asks his wife why she no longer loves him. He reminds her of an evening when he lovingly wrapped her and their child in his coat. Giorgetta breaks off the conversation, saying that she is tired. She leaves. Michele suspects that she has been seeing somebody but has no idea who. He lights a cigarette and Luigi appears. Michele attacks him, forces him to admit that he is in love with Giorgetta, and strangles him. Giorgetta discovers the body of her lover.
Suor Angelica Sister Angelica gave birth to a child out of wedlock and her aristocratic family forced her to take the veil. Since she has been living at the convent she has heard nothing of her child or family. All pray for a nun who recently died. Angelica thinks that it is the living who have wishes, not the dead. The Countess, Angelica’s aunt, arrives. She has come to sort out Angelica’s parents’ will – they died twenty years ago. She accuses Angelica again of bringing shame to the family. Angelica says she is repentant and asks about her child. The Countess hesitates before telling her that the child has died. Angelica collapses. She finds strength to sign papers, giving up her share of the inheritance. She believes that Our Lady has forgiven her. She prepares a drink, one that will reunite her with her child. She knows that suicide is a sin. In despair, she begs Our Lady to give her a sign that she is forgiven.
Gianni Schicchi Buoso, a rich man, has died and his relations have gathered to find out what they have inherited. Betto, Buoso’s brother in law, tells his niece Nella that he has heard that Buoso has left everything to a monastery. The family, outraged, turn to Simone, who is knowledgeable about legal affairs. Simone says that if the will is with the notary then there is nothing to be done but if it is still in the house... Rinuccio, Zita’s nephew, finds it. Before handing it over he makes Zita promise that if the contents are favourable he be allowed to marry Lauretta, Gianni Schicchi’s daughter but...everything has been left to the monks. Rinuccio has sent for Gianni Schicchi. The family refuse to accept him as their legal adviser, and Zita reneges on her promise to Rinuccio. Gianni Schicchi is offended but Lauretta manages to make him change his mind and help. Once Schicchi has ascertained that nobody else knows that Buoso Donati has died the body is hidden. The doctor calls. Schicchi speaks in Buoso’s voice – asking the doctor to return that evening. The relations try to bribe Schicchi to give them the largest chunks of the inheritance. Schicchi dons Buoso’s clothes and lies on the death bed. He warns the family that there will be serious repercussions if the deception is uncovered. The notary arrives. The relations listen on tender hooks. They are all left something but are frozen in shock when they hear that the lions share of the inheritance is to be left to – Gianni Schicchi! Buoso’s relations explode with rage but are soon sent packing by the new new master of the house. Lauretta and Rinuccio embrace. Gianni Schicchi turns to the audience: he begs them not to think too badly of him – he only wanted to make the young couple happy.
Giocomo Puccini's Trittico was born of real life drama, a study of the soul and the burlesque. He had long harboured the dream of producing and evening of three operas. Il tabarro - a bloody drama about jealousy and bitter reality, about the lonely, cheated on barge owner Michele, his attractive, love-craving wife Giorgetta and the fireman Luigi in the downtrodden life among boat people on the Seine; Suor Angelica - the tragedy of a nun, who commits suicide when she hears in the convent about the death of her child, the fruit of a forbidden passion, and the reason why she is there; Gianni Schicchi - a vicious comedy in which a greedy family are cheated out of their inheritance by a cunning upstart's deception. The main focus, and uniting element of the evening, is imprisonment, which is invariably linked to death. It crosses the worlds of the living and the dead, removing that which separates them.
Opera Frankfurt's Chorus
Frankfurt -Opern und Museumsorchester
