IL TRITTICO
Welsh National Opera at Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff *****
Two days, two shows, same company, but what a gulf of
difference in impact! Unlike Verdi’s tub-thumping Rigoletto, easily run
through, Puccini’s Il Trittico is an absolute masterpiece, little-known in its
entirety because of the obvious difficulties of staging three very different
operas during the course of a single evening.
And that is actually one of its strengths: taken in as a
whole, the structure is nothing less than an operatic symphony, Il Tabarro brooding
and weighty as an opening movement, Suor Angelica reflective and soul-searching
as a slow movement, and Gianni Schicchi an exuberant scherzo-finale. In the
hands of such a sympathetic conductor as Alexander Joel this overview really
works, and this joint staging by Scottish Opera and WNO packs a huge punch
under the astute direction of David McVicar.
The superb designs – Charles Edwards’ intricate sets so
telling of time and place, Hannah Clark’s costuming so brilliantly reflective
of context, Ben Pickersgill’s lighting creating such an atmosphere – all add to
the total conviction and success of this presentation. Had WNO’s Death in
Venice not already been suggested for major awards, I would certainly have
pushed for this Trittico.
In this centenary year of Puccini’s death we are coming to
acknowledge his absolute greatness as a composer, and how much awareness he had
of the contemporary scene around him (he attended the premiere of Schoenberg’s
Pierrot Lunaire, for example). In Il Tabarro we hear Debussy in the misty,
impressionistic evocation of the Seine as night settles over Paris, as well as
Stravinsky’s Petrushka in the organ-grinder’s bitonal music – and Puccini
himself, in the song-seller’s new offering telling the story of Mimi.
Il Tabarro is a grim tale of stifled passion amidst the
heavy life of stevedores and their wives (Yvonne Howard here making such a
character of La Frugola). Dario Solari was a sympathy-inducing Michele, the
bargemaster whose wife Giorgetta (Natalya Romaniw) is yearning for an escape to
happiness with the hired hand Luigi (Andres Presno). Her discovery of Luigi’s
murdered corpse beneath Michele’s eponymous cloak was telling Verdi how he should
have handled the identical scene in Rigoletto.
The evening was certainly Romaniw’s. Passionate in Tabarro,
she was absolutely heart-wrenching as Suor Angelica, serving out her penance in
such a well-observed convent (having taught in a convent for several years half
a century ago I could appreciate how well the atmosphere was caught here).
Puccini’s score cultivates serenity until the intrusion of the ghastly
Principessa (Anne Mason formidable), bringing Angelica the family news she would
least have wanted to hear.
From then on the music carries us through Angelica’s anguish
as she prepares a poisonous draught for herself, and here is the only place I
could suggest an improvement to the entire Trittico. Why not have a gentle glow
appearing around the statue of the Madonna as she forgives Angelica her mortal
sin of suicide, as the soul of her illegitimate infant son, torn from her at
birth, welcomes her into heaven?
Finally came the riproaring, crackling Gianni Schicchi, a
family squabbling while the corpse was still warm, emptying a huge library of
roughly-packed documents in a frantic search for the will, and their collapse
as they eventually found it, leaving all their relative’s wealth to a friary.
Puccini and his librettist built such a vibrant farce out of a mere few lines
in one of the more lenient Circles of Hell in Dante’s Inferno, and all
involved, directorial staff and performers, responded with enthusiasm.
The famous “O mio babbino caro” was soaringly delivered by
Haegee Lee, and Dario Solari was engaging as the resourceful Gianni Schicchi,
impersonating the corpse as he leaves the best part of the estate to himself.
In the entire Trittico there is little work for the chorus
as an ensemble, but here they filled all the minor roles as characters in their
own right. Together with the wonderfully willing WNO Orchestra they were the
backbone of a superb evening presented to a packed audience of all ages and
backgrounds.
Arts Councils, what more do you want?
Christopher Morley