Considered as a whole, Puccini’s Il Trittico (comprising the three one-act operas Il Tabarro, Suor Angelica, and Gianni Schicchi) is Puccini’s longest work, with nearly three hours of music. Add two intermissions and you’re closing in on four hours in the theater. So it’s little wonder that we often get just two of the operas in the production schedule, despite Puccini’s strong preference that all three should be performed together.
The set of Suor Angelica showed us the courtyard of a convent. Upstage center were tall wooden double doors that led to the chapel, with a monochrome rose window above them. To the left and right were white walls, each divided into five sections, with an arcade up to the top of the first story and a white wall containing a simple four-pointed design above arcade. The arcades continued along the left and right sides; this time the arcades marked the beginnings of the stage’s “legs.” On the front left was Sister Angelica’s herb garden; right of center was a statue of Madonna and Child, with stream of water flowing from a pipe imbedded in the pedestal.
Our cast:
Sister Angelica: Cecilia Violetta López
The Princess: Nicole Birkland
The Abbess: Sophia Chew
The Monitress: Tori Grayum
Mistress of the Novices: Cathleen Candia
Sister Genovieffa: Jillian Boye
Sister Osmina: Claire Myers
Sister Dolcina: Heather Clemens
Nursing Sister: Jane Burgchardt
Conductor: Joseph Marcheso
Director: Lorna Haywood
In the title role, Cecilia Violetta López was a standout. Not only did she sing beautifully, her acting (especially her heart-wrenching sobs as she grieved over the death of her son) showed complete involvement with her character. Coming on top of her superb Leonora in Il Trovatore, she bids fair to become another one of the stars that Opera San Jose exports to the larger opera world. Nicole Birkland was suitably imperious and disdainful as her aunt, who has come to the convent to get her to sign away her inheritance. Definitely a beta.
During intermission, the Suor Angelica set was converted to the Gianni Schicchi set by replacing the double doors by a bed with a very tall headboard, replacing the rose window by another two white panels decorated with four-pointed stars, filling the arcades with bookcases and windows, and replacing the herb garden and statue with the accoutrements of a wealthy 13th-century Florentine: elaborate chairs, decorated trunks, writing desk, etc. Through a narrow window to the left of Buoso Donati’s bed could be seen Brunneleschi’s dome.
Our cast:
Gianni Schicchi: Evan Brummel
Lauretta: Cecilia Violetta López
Zita: Nicole Birkland
Rinuccio: James Callon
Gherardo: Robert Norman
Nella: Jillian Boye
Gherardino: James Costigan
Betto di Signa: Jo Vincent Parks
Simone: Isaiah Musik-Ayala
La Ciesca: Tori Grayum
Spinelloccio: Michael Mendelsohn
Marco: Peter Tuf
Conductor: Joseph Marcheso
Director: Lorna Haywood
I’ve seen a few Gianni Schicchis by now, and this one was by far the best. Not so much for the singing—the opera is built from a large number of short phrases, making it into much more of a sung play. The show-stopper aria, “O mio babbino caro,” lacked the heart-melting beauty that it is capable of. As wonderful as Cecilia Violetta López was in Suor Angelica, it was if her Lauretta got short shrift in her rehearsal time. What was outstanding was the acting. Lorna Haywood and her singers truly made this “comedy about death” into a real comedy. As just a tiny example, when the relatives are searching for Buoso Donati’s will, Simone reaches under the deathbed, pulls out a chamberpot, and announces that “No, the will is not here.” The action elicited all the right chuckles from the audience. It all worked far better than the recent San Francisco opera production, which was an assault on the visual senses. Definitely looking forward to seeing this one again—a beta-plus.
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