PUCCINI SCORES IN
ONE OF THREE TRIPTYCH VENTURES
By Paul Hertelendy
artssf.com, the independent observer of San Francisco Bay Area music
and dance
Week of Sept. 20-27, 2009
Vol. 12, No. 12
The question regarding Giacomo Puccini: In the
process of
creating that gourmet Italian soufflé “Gianni Schicchi,” did he
also lay a pair of
goose-eggs in his operatic triptych?
A century had
gone by since Rossini’s heyday, but I think no
one since ever creaked such a side-splitting comedy as “Gianni
Schicchi,” based
on a true pre-Renaissance story mentioned
in Dante.
Amongst his
many gifts, Puccini was also supremely
versatile. The triptych package “Il Trittico”
that he unveiled at age 60, toward
the end of his career, offered a gaunt love triangle/homicide as well
as a
poignant tale of a cloistered nun who was getting a lifelong punishment
for
having born a child out of wedlock.
The entire “Il
Trittico” (1918) has been mounted by the San
Francisco Opera as a vehicle for Prtricia Racette, a home-grown product
taking
on the rare assignment of all three leads in a single evening, such as
we heard
Sept. 18. She will also play the triple role at the Metropolitan Opera
this
season. Not yet fully focused, she is in any event an absolute dream in “Suor Angelica,” playing out the
torment and anguish of the nun kept isolated from both her son and her
family. In
the others she remained tentative, far less convincing.
The runaway
success of “Gianni Schicchi” here was a
testament to the cleverness of Stage Director James Robinson, who
choreographed
the group movement with the finesse of a Gilbert & Sullivan
operetta
maestro. The cast of greedy relatives intent on inheriting the riches
of a
dying uncle becomes a riotous caricature featuring battle-axes,
hypocritical
men, and a boy who’s hooked improbably on TV. (This production created
for the
NYC Opera is improbably updated, from 13th century to 20th
century.)
In the title
role, baritone Paolo Gavanelli is the master
swindler, passing himself off as the dying man rewriting his will,
giving
crumbs to the relatives while saving most of the pie for himself.
“Gianni
Schicchi” has the only show-stopped of the entire
trilogy, Lauretta singing “Il mio babino caro, where the woman is now
inexplicably transformed into an awkward juvenile---the only misfire in
this
whole reprise.
The two other
operas feature less compelling music and a
much slower pace. But Racette singlehandedly carried off the sluggish
“Suor
Angelica,” pouring herself into the ever darkening drama of social
rejection
culminating in her suicide.
If we learn
anything from Verdi, Puccini & Co., it’s
that monasteries, convents and heaven itself provide little operatic
impulse,
not unless evil doers or seducers slip through the gates.
“Il Tabarro”
(The Cloak) is another operatic longshot rarely
living up to expectations. Aboard a Parisian barge on the Seine,
a violent older captain (Gavanelli again) thwarts his
wayward wife, 25 years his junior, by attacking her young
lover. It
sailed into muddy waters with this odd set, which suggested more Aida’s
tomb
than anything you'll ever see shipboard.
Patrick
Summers conducted with solid acumen through all
three works.
The mixed
reception of "Il Trittico" led to speculation that Puccini had lost his
spark with encroaching old age. But in the next decade he crated one
of his most brilliant operas ever, "Turandot," which came down to us
posthumously.
“Il Trittico” by
Puccini, a triple bill, at the S.F. Opera, through Oct. 3. For info:
(415)
864-3330, or go online.
©Paul Hertelendy 2009
#
Paul Hertelendy has been
covering
the dance and modern-music scene in the San Francisco Bay Area with
relish
-- and a certain amount of salsa -- for years.
These critiques appearing weekly (or sometimes semi-weekly, but never
weakly)
will focus on dance and new musical creativity in performance, with
forays
into books (by authors of the region), theater and recordings by local
artists as well.
#
Return to main menu