Il Trittico – Giacomo Puccini
Il Tabarro, Suor Angelica, & Gianni Schicchi; One-act Operas
Giacomo Puccini’s 3 Italian one-act operas Il Trittico (The Triptych)
- Composed:1915-1918
- First Performance:December 14, 1918, Metropolitan Opera, New York (United States)
Il Tabarro
- Libretto: Giuseppe Adami
- Setting:Paris, France; late 19th century
The Main Characters in Il tabarro:
- Michele, owner of a barge, aged 50 (baritone)
- Giorgetta, Michele’s wife, aged 25 (soprano)
- Luigi, a stevedore, aged 20(tenor)
Basic Plot Summary of Puccini’s opera Il Tabarro
Michele and his wife Giorgetta live on a barge in the river Seine. Michele watches as the stevedores finish their work for the day. As they walk past the barge, Giorgetta has a private conversation with Luigi. (a stevedore with whom she is having an affair) Giorgetta plans a secret meeting for late that night. Michele watches, but says nothing. He is convinced that his wife is having an affair. Later that evening, Luigi mistakes the light from Michele’s pipe as a sign from Giorgetta. As Luigi boards the barge, he encounters Michelle who strangles him to death. After he has killed Luigi, Michele hides the body under a cloak. (un tabarro) When Giorgetta comes home, Michele removes the cloak, revealing her lover’s dead body.
Suor Angelica
- Libretto: Giovacchino Forzano
- Setting:17th Century Italy at a convent
The Main Characters in Suor Angelica:
- Suor Angelica, sister Angelica (soprano)
- The Princess, her aunt (contralto)
Basic Plot Summary of Puccini’s opera Suor Angelica (Sister Angelica)
The nuns are all happily doing their chores with the exception of Suor Angelica. Her family has ignored Sister Angelica for several years. Unexpectedly, her aunt, a princess, arrives at the convent. Angelica is eager to see a member of her family and rushes to her. The princess coldly tells Angelica that the reason that she was sent to the convent and rejected by her family was because of her illegitimate child. Her aunt did not come to the convent to make amends, but rather to inform Angelica that her child was dead. Angelica is crushed. She drinks poison, hoping to die and be reunited with her child. She then remembers that suicide is a sin punishable by damnation, which would leave her separated from her child. Angelica prays to the Virgin Mary, who appears, holding Angelica’s child to lead the dying sister to heaven.
Gianni Schicchi
- Libretto: Giovacchino Forzano
- Setting:Florence, Italy; 13th century
The Main Characters in Gianni Schicchi:
- Gianni Schicchi, (baritone)
- Lauretta, his daughter (soprano)
- Rinuccio, related to Buoso Donati (tenor)
Basic Plot Summary of Puccini’s opera Gianni Schicchi
Buoso Donati has died. His greedy family hears that he has left his rather large estate to the church. As the family frantically searches the home for the will, Rinuccio finds it. He promises to read the will to the family, if they will agree to him marrying Lauretta, the daughter of Gianni Schicchi. They agree and he reads the will, which confirms their fears. Rinnucio suggests that the let the wily Schicchi help fix the problem. Lauretta pleads with him to help the family, by pretending to be Buoso. Schicchi agrees to be Buoso, rewrite the will, and have a notary sign it. He makes the family swear to never tell a soul about the rewritten will. When the notary comes, Schicchi writes the new will, bequeathing Buoso’s estate to his friend “Gianni Schicchi.” The notary has left. Schicchi kicks the family out of this new house. Rinnuchio and Lauretta sing about their happy love. Schicchi proudly admires the way Buoso spent his money!
If you like Il Trittico, here are some other operas written by Giacomo Puccini:
- Manon Lescaut
- La Bohème
- Tosca
- Madama Butterfly
- La fanciulla del West
- Il Trittico
- Turandot
Please visit the article archives for more interesting articles about opera like this one about Puccini’s operas Il Trittico. Feel free to contact the Opera feature writer, Bryce by email if you have questions about Il Trittico or have any recommendations as to material you would like to see covered.
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