Welsh National Opera is busy readying itself for the opening of our new 2024 Autumn Season, and what better way to bring audiences together than with Puccini’s Il trittico? Here are some of our top musical moments to watch out for in Puccini’s all too rarely performed trio of operas. You can familiarise yourself with the work with our quick Guide to Il trittico too.
Il tabarro
Orchestral Introduction
Il tabarro opens on the banks of the river Seine in Paris, and Puccini’s orchestral introduction to the opera certainly sets the scene magnificently: the uneasy swaying of the strings and winds is reminiscent of the gentle rocking of the barges on the water, and abrupt car horns and boat whistles add colour to the tableau.
Michele and Giorgetta’s duet: Resta vicino a me! (Stay close to me!)
The true jewel in Il tabarro’s crown is the duet between Michele and Giorgetta that takes place towards the end of the drama. It’s a desperate, tender moment in which Michele pleads with his wife to stay with him and remember better times in their relationship.
Suor Angelica
Suor Angelica: I desideri sono i fiori dei vivi (Desires are the flowers of the living)
Following the beautiful, tranquil opening of church bells and the Chorus’s Ave Maria, Sister Angelica’s fellow convent sisters discuss their desires. Sister Angelica’s first vocal entry is the opera’s first proper moment of intensity, singing that their desires are ‘flowers of the living, never blooming in the realms of death,’ a two-fold statement that begins with the orchestra’s gentle lyricism and caressing of Angelica, before a huge surge in volume that makes audible the depth of her sorrow. The sisters all fall silent, the room’s atmosphere tenses in Sister Angelica’s palpable despair of living without her son.
Gianni Schicchi
Rinuccio’s homage to Florence: Firenze è come un albero fiorito (Our Florence is a proud and ancient city)
Unusually for Puccini, there are few truly lyrical moments in his fast-paced comic opera Gianni Schicchi. One moment that does provide a brief moment of respite from the bickering of the disinherited Donati family is Rinuccio’s interruption to silence them all.
Rinuccio’s moment is an expansive and passionate aria that’s dedicated to his home city of Florence, beginning in a declamatory, march-like style. There’s a brief interlude of Lauretta’s famous O mio babbino caro theme, before Rinuccio proceeds to describe the majesty of city's River Arno and the men that built its historic foundations, Arnolfo Giotto, the Medicis, and their true successor, Gianni Schicchi himself.
Listen out for these musical highlights when Il tritticoreturns to Cardiff this September.
Don’t miss your last opportunity to see WNO’s critically acclaimed production at the Wales Millennium Centre on 29 September, 3 and 5 October, before it tours as a double bill Suor Angelica and Gianni Schicchi to Llandudno, Plymouth and Southampton, with a special concert performance in Oxford in the Autumn.
The best things come in threes