When Giacomo Puccini began writing the triptych whose last and final part is the comic opera Gianni Schicchi, he was almost sixty years old and had already composed at least four masterpieces: Manon Lescaut, La Bohème, Tosca and Madame Butterfly. But at the same time, he was going through a critical moment. He had fallen out with his publisher Ricordi, among other reasons, because the latter was reluctant to publish what for Puccini was a long-standing desire: the composition of three one-act operas to be performed together on the same evening.
 |
| Scene from "Gianni Schicchi", directed by Woody Allen in June 2009 at the Teatro Nuovo, Spoleto, Italy (*) |
A drama, a comedy, and a farce
The idea followed the scheme of the grand puppet theater, that is, the successive representation of three plays with totally different atmospheres: a drama, a sentimental comedy and a farce. He had already completed one in 1916, the one-act tragedy Il Tabarro. So, disregarding his publisher, he set about searching themes for the composition of the remaining two. First, he completed the solemn and religious Suor Angelica, with only female characters (since it takes place in a convent) and then, in 1917, he began writing the amusing and enlightened Gianni Schicchi, based on an episode from canto XXX of the "Inferno" of Dante's Divine Comedy.
 |
| Giacomo Puccini (1858 - 1924) |
The three works, unified under the name Il Trittico, were staged on December 14, 1918, at New York's Metropolitan Opera with mixed results, although Gianni Schicchi won the applause.
Gianni Schicchi
The play begins with a family gathered around a dying wealthy relative, whom they mourn in grief although they appear to be
more interested in the inheritance. After reading the will, the family panics when they learn that the entire fortune has been left to a monastery. A solution is offered by a character, which involves the participation of the peasant Gianni Schicchi, father of his lover.
Gianni would take the place of the dead man and draw up a new will before the notary. This is done, but the cure turns out to be worse than the disease. Schicchi will bequeath everything to himself. Finally, fatherly love will solve everything.
O mio babbino caro
As Schicchi is initially falsely reluctant to participate in the trick, his daughter, in love, begs him by singing the most famous aria of the work: O mio babbino caro (Oh, my dear daddy), performed here by the beautiful Greek soprano Irini Kyriakidou, in a rendering of the opera brought to our times.
(*) In June 2007, Woody Allen announced that he was planning to add two creative debuts to his career: directing a play he did not create, and directing an opera. His production of Gianni Schicchi opened the 2 Worlds Festival in Spoleto in 2009. When asked about his own work in this new line, he commented: "I have no idea what I'm doing".
