Il trittico

''Il trittico'' (''The Triptych'') is the title of a collection of three one-act operas, ''Il tabarro'', '' Suor Angelica'', and '' Gianni Schicchi'', by Giacomo Puccini. The work received its world premiere at the Metropolitan Opera on 14 December 1918.

Background

Around 1904, Puccini first began planning a set of one-act operas, largely because of the success of Pietro Mascagni's ''Cavalleria rusticana''. Originally, he planned to write each opera to reflect one of the parts of Dante's ''Divine Comedy''. However, he eventually based only '' Gianni Schicchi'' on Dante's epic poem. The link in the final work is that each opera deals with the concealment of a death.

Puccini also intended that the three should be performed as a set, and wrote to Casa Ricordi to complain about their giving permission in 1920 to The Royal Opera, London, "for ''Tabarro'' and ''Schicchi'' without ''Angelica''". He reluctantly agreed that the two operas could be given in a programme with Serge Diaghilev's ''Ballets Russes'', but when he heard that ''Il tabarro'' had also been dropped, he wrote to his friend Sybil Seligman to say "I very much dislike ''Trittico'' being given in bits – I gave permission for ''two'' operas, and not ''one'', in conjunction with the Russian Ballet."

Today, it is quite common to see only one or two of the ''trittico'' operas performed in an evening, and sometimes one of them may be paired with another one-act opera by a different composer.

Performance history

The operas premiered at the Metropolitan Opera on 14 December 1918. The critical reviews for ''Il trittico'' were mixed; most critics agreed that ''Gianni Schicchi'' was the best of the three operas.

''Il trittico'' premiered in Rome on 11 January 1919. Puccini, who had not been present for the New York premiere, attended the production at the Rome Opera House. The Rome production, especially ''Gianni Schicchi'', received positive reviews. Later that year, the triptych was staged at the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires (25 June) with Tullio Serafin conducting and in Chicago (6 December). After these initial premieres, most opera companies began to perform the operas separately; ''Gianni Schicchi'' would eventually become the most frequently performed of the set.

A critically acclaimed production at the Metropolitan Opera opened on 20 April 2007, directed by Jack O'Brien and was broadcast on television by PBS's ''Great Performances at the Met'' series. In this production ''Il tabarro'' was moved from 1910 to 1927, ''Suor Angelica'' was moved from the 17th century to 1938, and ''Gianni Schicchi'' was moved from 1299 to 1959.

Synopses

''A complete synopsis of each opera may be found in their individual articles''

''

Il tabarro''

:Place: A barge on the Seine in Paris.
:Time: 1910.
The opera is dark and brooding, with the violence and grit associated with verismo opera.

'' Suor Angelica''

:Place: A convent near Siena.
:Time: The latter part of the 17th century.
This second opera, Puccini's personal favoriteSimon, p. 396 (but usually the one to be omitted if only two of the operas are performed), is an uplifting tale of religious redemption.

'' Gianni Schicchi''

:Place: Florence.
:Time: 1299.
The third opera is the most popular, a farce full of greed and conniving.

References

Notes

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Trittico
Operas by Giacomo Puccini
Verismo operas
Italian-language operas
Opera world premieres at the Metropolitan Opera
1918 operas
Operas
One-act operas
Opera cycles