Il Trittico is not my favourite from Puccini, but it is an interesting trilogy of contrasting operas that have good stories, compelling characters and typically gorgeous music. As much as I love the compact atmosphere of Il Tabarro and the ethereal poignancy of Suor Angelica, my favourite is the divine witty comedy of Gianni Schicchi, memorable for the hilarious story, one of the more memorable Puccini titular characters and of course the soprano aria O Mio Babbino Caro.
Of the Il Tritticos I've seen, this 2008 La Scala production is my least favourite. Not because it is bad, mind you, but because the 1983 La Scala production is very good and I loved the 1981 and 2007 Met productions. If there is one word for me to describe this Il Trittico though it is uneven.
The best assets were the orchestral playing and Riccardo Chailly's conducting. The orchestral playing is both gorgeous and intelligent, especially during Suor Angelica, while O Mio Babbino Caro is similarly sensitively accompanied. Chailly conducts with a lot of efficiency and creaminess, yet the haunting music of Il Tabarro still comes through. The production is interesting for the alternate aria for Michele(though I do prefer Nulla Silenzio but only just) and Angelica's additional aria to the flowers, which is advanced and extraorinarily beautiful Puccini.
Casting-wise it is mostly great, though I did find for my liking Paoletta Moroccu's Giorgietta sometimes expressive but often squally and unmotivated and Nino Machaidze's Lauretta beautiful but too acidic vocally. Miroslav Dvorsky is a little stolid but dark-toned and musically intelligent as Luigi. The best of the cast were Juan Pons as a scary Michele, Leo Nucci's(if past prime) characterful and charismatic Gianni Schicchi and surprisingly Vittorio Grigolo as a forceful Rinuccio. Although I did find her more moving in the 2007 Met production, Barbara Frittoli otherwise sings with beautiful tone and floating pianissimo singing. As La Principessa, Marjana Lipovsek is a little too-long-in-the-tooth but otherwise commanding.
However, the biggest let-downs of the production are the staging and especially the set designs. With the staging, the best staged of the three was Gianni Schicchi, which is uproariously funny. I liked the compactness of the atmosphere in Il Tabarro, but the only real character to properly engage me was Michele. Suor Angelica on the other hand was incongruous, the fallen statue probably intended to be symbolic but instead felt blatantly over-used with the action revolving around it coming across as insipid. I always felt sympathy for Angelica until now, the oddest account of Angelica's lament over her dead son single-handedly nullified any sympathy in any way.
Of the sets, the least problematic was Il Tabarro, still being compact and intense, despite the raked stage which made the boat look silly and the lack of any river. Despite the effectiveness of the comedy, the set of Gianni Schicchi is too static and amateur in look, Buoso Donati's bedroom is much too boxed for my liking. But whatever problems these two have, they are nothing next to Suor Angelica, which came across as too plastic and too stark.
The subtitles are also an issue. Another example of an opera that I was introducing my family too, hence the subtitles to get a grasp of the action(usually I don't have them on). Mostly they are incoherent and little more than a nonsensical jumble, Gianni Schicchi I can forgive but those for Il Tabarro were in serious danger of spoiling the mood of the piece, luckily Pons, the orchestra and the atmosphere made it not so.
Il Trittico(2008) while leaving much to be desired sets-wise does look presentable technically. There are scenes with the camera work that have an almost cinematic look to them, especially with Michele in Il Tabarro, while the sound and picture quality are of great clarity. The lighting is also accurate, adding to Il Tabarro's intensity and Gianni Schicchi's jauntiness. Suor Angelica is not so good, but even good lighting can't do justice to the sets, that's the extent as to how bad they were sadly.
All in all, I was rather mixed on this production, but the orchestra, Chailly and the singing make it watchable enough. 6/10 Bethany Cox
Of the Il Tritticos I've seen, this 2008 La Scala production is my least favourite. Not because it is bad, mind you, but because the 1983 La Scala production is very good and I loved the 1981 and 2007 Met productions. If there is one word for me to describe this Il Trittico though it is uneven.
The best assets were the orchestral playing and Riccardo Chailly's conducting. The orchestral playing is both gorgeous and intelligent, especially during Suor Angelica, while O Mio Babbino Caro is similarly sensitively accompanied. Chailly conducts with a lot of efficiency and creaminess, yet the haunting music of Il Tabarro still comes through. The production is interesting for the alternate aria for Michele(though I do prefer Nulla Silenzio but only just) and Angelica's additional aria to the flowers, which is advanced and extraorinarily beautiful Puccini.
Casting-wise it is mostly great, though I did find for my liking Paoletta Moroccu's Giorgietta sometimes expressive but often squally and unmotivated and Nino Machaidze's Lauretta beautiful but too acidic vocally. Miroslav Dvorsky is a little stolid but dark-toned and musically intelligent as Luigi. The best of the cast were Juan Pons as a scary Michele, Leo Nucci's(if past prime) characterful and charismatic Gianni Schicchi and surprisingly Vittorio Grigolo as a forceful Rinuccio. Although I did find her more moving in the 2007 Met production, Barbara Frittoli otherwise sings with beautiful tone and floating pianissimo singing. As La Principessa, Marjana Lipovsek is a little too-long-in-the-tooth but otherwise commanding.
However, the biggest let-downs of the production are the staging and especially the set designs. With the staging, the best staged of the three was Gianni Schicchi, which is uproariously funny. I liked the compactness of the atmosphere in Il Tabarro, but the only real character to properly engage me was Michele. Suor Angelica on the other hand was incongruous, the fallen statue probably intended to be symbolic but instead felt blatantly over-used with the action revolving around it coming across as insipid. I always felt sympathy for Angelica until now, the oddest account of Angelica's lament over her dead son single-handedly nullified any sympathy in any way.
Of the sets, the least problematic was Il Tabarro, still being compact and intense, despite the raked stage which made the boat look silly and the lack of any river. Despite the effectiveness of the comedy, the set of Gianni Schicchi is too static and amateur in look, Buoso Donati's bedroom is much too boxed for my liking. But whatever problems these two have, they are nothing next to Suor Angelica, which came across as too plastic and too stark.
The subtitles are also an issue. Another example of an opera that I was introducing my family too, hence the subtitles to get a grasp of the action(usually I don't have them on). Mostly they are incoherent and little more than a nonsensical jumble, Gianni Schicchi I can forgive but those for Il Tabarro were in serious danger of spoiling the mood of the piece, luckily Pons, the orchestra and the atmosphere made it not so.
Il Trittico(2008) while leaving much to be desired sets-wise does look presentable technically. There are scenes with the camera work that have an almost cinematic look to them, especially with Michele in Il Tabarro, while the sound and picture quality are of great clarity. The lighting is also accurate, adding to Il Tabarro's intensity and Gianni Schicchi's jauntiness. Suor Angelica is not so good, but even good lighting can't do justice to the sets, that's the extent as to how bad they were sadly.
All in all, I was rather mixed on this production, but the orchestra, Chailly and the singing make it watchable enough. 6/10 Bethany Cox
