Puccini's Il trittico (Il tabarro, Suor Angelica & Gianni Schicchi)
The Gramophone Choice
Il tabarro
Carlo Guelfi bar Michele Maria Guleghina sop Giorgetta Neil Shicoff ten Luigi Ricardo Cassinelli ten Tinca Enrico Fissore bass Talpa Elena Zilio mez Frugola Barry Banks ten Ballad-seller Angela Gheorghiu sop Lover Roberto Alagna ten Lover London Voices; London Symphony Orchestra / Antonio Pappano
Suor Angelica
Cristina Gallardo-Domâs sop Suor Angelica Bernadette Manca di Nissa contr Princess Felicity Palmer mez Abbess Elena Zilio mez Monitoress Sara Fulgoni mez Mistress of the Novices Dorothea Röschmann sop Sister Genovieffa Judith Rees sop Sister Osmina Rachele Stanisci sop Sister Dolcina Francesca Pedaci sop Nursing Sister Anna Maria Panzarella sop First Almoner Sister, First Lay Sister Susan Mackenzie-Park sop Second Almoner Sister Deborah Miles-Johnson contr Second Lay Sister Rosalind Waters sop Novice London Voices; Tiffin Boys’ School Choir; Philharmonia Orchestra / Antonio Pappano
Gianni Schicchi
José van Dam bass-bar Gianni Schicchi Angela Gheorghiu sop Lauretta Roberto Alagna ten Rinuccio Felicity Palmer mez Zita Paolo Barbacini ten Gherardo Patrizia Ciofi sop Nella James Savage-Hanford treb Gherardino Carlos Chausson bass Betto di Signa Luigi Roni bass Simone Roberto Scaltriti bar Marco Elena Zilio mez La Ciesca Enrico Fissore bass Spinelloccio Simon Preece bar Pinellino Noel Mann bass Guccio London Symphony Orchestra / Antonio Pappano
EMI 556587-2 (162‘ · DDD · S/T/t). Buy from Amazon
No previous recordings bring such warmth or beauty or so powerful a drawing of the contrasts between each of the three one-acters in Puccini’s triptych as these. It’s Pappano above all, with his gift for pacing Puccini subtly, who draws the set together. In each opera he heightens emotions fearlessly to produce unerringly at key moments the authentic gulp-in-throat. It will disappoint some that the starry couple of Angela Gheorghiu and Roberto Alagna don’t take centre stage, but quite apart from their radiant singing as Lauretta and Rinuccio in Gianni Schicchi they make a tiny cameo appearance in Il tabarro as the offstage departing lovers, a heady 45 seconds. No doubt Gheorghiu would have been just as persuasive as Giorgetta in Il tabarro and as Sister Angelica but having different sopranos in each opera sharpens the contrasts. Maria Guleghina makes a warm, vibrant Giorgetta and the touch of acid at the top of the voice adds character, pointing to the frustration of the bargemaster’s wife.
Even more remarkable is the singing of the young Chilean soprano Cristina Gallardo-Domâs as Sister Angelica. Hers is a younger, more vulnerable Angelica than usual. Her vocal subtlety and commanding technique go with a fully mature portrayal of the nun’s agony, her defiance of the implacable Princess as well as her grief over her dead son. As with Gheorghiu, the dynamic shading brings pianissimos of breathtaking delicacy. The Princess is powerfully sung by Bernadette Manca di Nissa, her tone firm and even throughout. Felicity Palmer, with her tangy mezzo tone, is well contrasted as the Abbess, and she’s just as characterful as the crabby Zita in Gianni Schicchi. The casting in Suor Angelica is as near flawless as could be, with Elena Zilio and Dorothea Röschmann outstanding in smaller roles. Zilio is the only singer who appears in all three operas, just as effective as Frugola in Il tabarro, though there her full, clear voice isn’t always distinguishable from Guleghina as Giorgetta. Among the men, Carlo Guelfi makes a superb Michele, incisive, dark and virile. He brings out not just the anger but the poignancy of the bargemaster’s emotions, as in the duet with Giorgetta, when they lament what might have been. Neil Shicoff makes a fine Luigi, the nerviness in his tenor tone aptly bringing out a hysterical quality in the character. The male comprimarios are vocally more variable, if always characterful, as they are too in Gianni Schicchi. As Schicchi himself, José van Dam’s voice perfectly conveys the sardonic side of the character, and the top Gs he has to negotiate are wonderfully strong and steady. Maybe the full voice he uses for the name ‘Gianni Schicchi’, when in impersonation of old Buoso he’s dictating the new will, makes too obvious a contrast with the quavering old man imitation, but it’s what Puccini asked for.
Also worthy of praise is the sumptuous and atmospheric sound. Offstage effects are magical and always, thanks to Pappano and fine playing from both the LSO and Philharmonia, the beauty and originality of the carefully textured instrumentation can be appreciated with new vividness.
DVD Recommendation
Il tabarro
Piero Cappuccilli bar Michele Sylvia Sass sop Giorgetta Nicola Martinucci ten Luigi Sergio Bertocchi ten Tinca Aldo Bramante bass Talpa Eleonora Jankovic mez Frugola Ernesto Gavazzi ten Ballad-seller Anna Baldasserini sngr Lover Bruno Brando sngr Lover
Suor Angelica
Rosalind Plowright sop Suor Angelica Dunja Vejzovic contr Princess Maria Garcia Allegri mez Abbess Nella Verri mez Mistress of the Novices Giovanna Santelli sop Sister Genovieffa Maria Dalla Spezia sop Sister Osmina Midela d’Amico sop Sister Dolcina
Gianni Schicchi
Juan Pons bar Gianni Schicchi Cecilia Gasdia sop Lauretta Yuri Marusin ten Rinuccio Eleonora Jankovic contr Zita Ferrero Poggi ten Gherardo Anna Baldasserini sop Nella Alessandra Cesareo contr Gherardino Franco Boscolo bass Betto di Signa Mario Luperi bass Simone Giorgio Taddeo bar Marco Nella Verri mez La Ciesca Claudio Giombi bass Spinelloccio Virgilio Carbonari bar Notary Pio Bonfanti bass Pinellino Ruggero Altavilla bass Guccio
Orchestra and Chorus of La Scala, Milan / Gianandrea Gavazzeni
Stage director Sylvano Bussotti
Video director Brian Large
Warner Music Vison 5046 70943-2 (161’ · NTSC · 4:3· PCM stereo · 2-6). Recorded live 1983. Buy from Amazon
This Warner DVD offers idiomatic performances from La Scala of Puccini’s trilogy. The productions are broadly traditional, with an ultra-realistic set for the grand guignol of Il tabarro and rather more stylised settings for Suor Angelica and Gianni Schicchi.
Casting is strong in Il tabarro, with Piero Cappuccilli in his prime as Michele, the cuckolded bargemaster. His appeal to Giorgetta, his estranged wife, is so passionate and tender that his climactic solo has your total sympathy. Sylvia Sass as Giorgetta tends to overact; the steely edge in her voice helps keep your sympathies with Michele. As Luigi, Nicola Martinucci is powerful and unstrained. Outstanding among the others is Eleonora Jankovic as La Frugola, firm of voice and characterful without overacting. The staging of the murder and Michele’s revealing of the body under his cloak, always tricky to bring off, is neatly managed.
The stylised set for Suor Angelica is unobjectionable. What dominates, as it should, is Rosalind Plowright’s moving performance of the title-role. Next to her, Dunja Vejzovic is disappointing, not so much vocally as in appearance and personality; she seems too young and lightweight, hardly the unforgiving Princess. The nuns are nicely touched in, and the chorus is impressive. Brian Large’s direction sidesteps the final and sentimental vision of Angelica’s dead child.
Gianni Schicchi is placed in an enormous apartment with a panoramic view over Florence. The claustrophobia that can add point to the comic story is entirely absent, but the set is undistracting. Eleonora Jankovic again stands out among the incidental characters as the old woman, Zita, and Yuri Marusin as Rinuccio copes well with his big aria. Lauretta, his lover, is strongly cast, with Cecilia Gasdia luxuriantly drawing out ‘O mio babbino caro’ in finely shaded phrases, to the delight of the Scala audience. Juan Pons is a firm and commanding Schicchi, taking centre stage from his first entry.
