Richard Jones ‘ 2011
production of Puccini’s Il trittico has received its first revival at
theRoyal Opera House
(seen 29 February 2016), conducted byNicola Luisotti and revived by
directorsSarah
Fahie (Il tabarro,Suor Angelica), and Benjamin Davis (Gianni
Schicchi). Baritone Lucio
Gallo returned to the roles of Michele in Il tabarro and the title
role in Gianni Schicchi, whilst soprano Ermonela Jaho and contraltoAnna Larsson reprised the roles of Suor
Angelica and the Princess in Suor Angelica. In Il tabarro, Patricia Racette sang Giorgetta with Carl Tanner as Luigi, Carlo Bosi as Tinca, Jeremy White as Talpa, Irina Mishura as
Frugola. In Suor Angelica,Elena
Zilio was the Monitress,Elizabeth
Sikora the Mistress of the Novices, Irina Mishura the Abbess. InGianni
Schicchi, Paolo Fanale andDavid Kempster
made their Covent Garden debuts as Runiccio and Marco with veteran bass Gwynne Howell (who
made his Covent Garden debut in 1970) returning as Simone, Elena Zilio as Zita,
Jeremy White as Betto, Marie McLaughlin as La
Ciesca, Carlo Bosi as Gherardo,Rebecca
Evans as Nella, and Susanna
Hurrell (making her Covent Garden main stage debut) as Lauretta.
Richard Jones’ production has revived very well (of course the production of
Gianni Schicchi debuted in 2009 with the remaining two being added in
2011), and to a certain extent remains the star of the evening. Despite having
three different set designers, Ultz (Il tabarro), Miriam Buether (
Suor Angelica), John MacFarlane (Gianni Schicchi), with
costume for all three by Nicky Gillibrand, the three operas successfully form
complementary parts to a whole, centred both by the common 1950’s setting, and
the stylised realism and detailed persononen regie of Jones’
directorial approach. Puccini saw Suor Angelica as very much the
centre of the triptych though the opera has been relatively neglected compared
to the other two. In this revival, as in the 2011 performances, Suor
Angelica is certainly back at the centre thanks to the remarkably intense
performance from Ermonela Jaho.
Of the three operas it as Il tabarro which seemed the weakest.
Puccini sets this with detailed naturalism and the production responds with a
tapestry of small roles such as sailors wandering past, office girls in a
building overlooking the canal, the neighbourhood tart as well as the song
seller (David Jonghoon Kim) and the lovers (Lauren Fagan and Luis Gomes), not
to mention the secondary characters Jeremy White and Irina Mishura’s delightful
Talpa and Frugola, plus Carlo Bosi as Tinca, who were all strongly
characterised. The problem with this approach is that if the central drama is
not strong enough, then this lively backdrop can sometimes pull focus.
All three principals, Patricia Racette (Giorgetta), Carl Tanner (Luigi) and
Lucio Gallo (Michele) sang well and gave us some fine moments. Tanner was
suitably virile and impressively trenchant in his denunciation of the life of
barge workers, and the moment the Luigi and Giorgetta reminisce about their
early life in Belleville remains a magical one. Racette brought out Giorgetta’s
frustration, but her voice tended to get a bit uneven when pushed in the upper
register so it was the quieter moments that told. Gallo was suitably gruff as
Michele, but the sense of simmering passions was only intermittently there.
These were three individual performances, what we lacked was that essential
crackle of underlying passion and need between the three. Perhaps Nicola
Luisotti’s relaxed, low key approach to the score was partly to blame. He
brought out some beauties in the score, but this was definitely a performance
which felt undercooked, all the right ingredients but it didn’t quite coalesce.
It does not always pay to bring the same cast back together for a revival,
the same intensity does not always come as well. But in the case of Suor
Angelica, Ermonela Jaho and Anna Larsson repeated their amazing
performances. Jaho’s Suor Angelica remains a sustained and intense portrayal,
remarkable for the way Jaho conveys Angelica’s suppressed feelings through body
language and dialogue, so that the great moments do not explode out of nowhere.
And the relationship with Larsson’s elegant, yet remarkably repressed Princess
showed all the crackle and underlying tension which was lacking in the first
opera. It helps that these two are surrounded by a very strong team of nuns,
with some suitably fierce performances from Elena Zilio as Monitress, Elizabeth
Sikora as Mistress of the Novices, and Irina Mishura as the Abbess plus a full
array of nuns each of whom was clearly characterised (Melissa Alder, Kate
McCarney, Eryl Royle, Lauren Fagan, Katy Batho, Elizabeth Key, Jennifer Davis,
Emily Edmonds, Renata Skarelyte, Tamsin Coombs, Kiera Lyness, Anne Osborne, Amy
Catt, Cari Searle).
Gianni Schicchi is mainly an ensemble piece, and though centred on
Lucio Gallo’s shady, down at heel and rather brilliant Gianni Schicchi, it is
the ensemble of the relatives with their stylised group choreography
(choreographer Lucy Burge) which is just as important. With some changes of
personnel the ensemble was still crisp, stylised and very funny. Not
surprisingly in Richard Jones’ view none of the principals is very admirable,
and Gallo’s Schicchi is just as bad as the other relatives, only the two lovers
Rinuccio (Paolo Fanale) and Lauretta (Susanna Hurrell) form a still small
centre, with Fanale’s lovely hymn to Florence, Hurrell’s poised and beautiful
‘O mio babino caro’ and their final duet (though without the sight of a
panorama of Florence).
The miracle is that the relatives create such a gallery of distinct
characters whilst being very funny as an ensemble: Gwynne Howell as Simone,
Elena Zilio as Zita, Jeremy White as Betto, David Kempster as Marco, Marie
McLaughlin as La Ciesca, Carlo Bossi as Gherardo, Rebecca Evans as Nella. The
supporting characters were equally highly coloured, with Matteo Peirone as
Spinelloccio, Tiziano Bracci as Ser Amantio, Simon Wilding as Pinellino, David
Shipley as Guccio, Peter Curtis as the late Buoso Donati and Gabriele Montano
as the chief brat.
After giving us two slightly low key, rather relaxed accounts Nicola
Luisotti and the orchestra launched with impressive energy into the prelude to
Gianni Schicchi and thereafter the frenetic pace of the music matched
the stage action brilliantly. But this wasn’t an over-driven account and
Luisotti knew where to relax so that the great moments really did flower.
This was not quite an ideally balanced account of Il trittico, with
Il tabarro lacking the sense of strong meat and dark undertones, but
overall this was a remarkably creditable account of a tricky trio of operas.
Robert Hugill
Cast and production information:
Director: Richard Jones, Set Design: Ultz, Miriam Buether, John
MacFarlane, Costume Design: Nicky Gillibrand, Conductor: Nicola Luisotti
Il tabarro – Michele: Lucio Gallo, Giorgetta: Patricia Racette,
Luigi: Carl Tanner, Tinca: Carlo Bosi, Talpa: Jeremy White, Frugola: Irina
Mishura, Song Seller: David Junghoon Kim, Lovers: Lauren Fagan & Luis Gomes
Suor Angelica – Monitress: Elena Zilio, Mistress of the Novices:
Elizabeth Sikora, Sister Osmina: Eryl Royle, Sister Genovieffa: Lauren Fagan,
Sister Angelica: Ermonela Jaho, Sister Dolcina: Elizabeth Key, Abbess: Irina
Mishura, Princess: Anna Larsson
Gianni Schicchi – Buoso Donati: Peter Curtis, Simone: Gwynne Howell,
Zita: Elena Zilio, Rinuccio: Paolo Fanale, Betto: Jeremy White, Marco: David
Kempster, La Ciesca: Marie McLaughlin, Gherardo: Carlo Bosi, Nella: Rebecca
Evans, Gianni Schicchi: Lucio Gallo, Spinellocio: Matteo Peirone, Ser Mantio:
Titiano Bracci, Pinellino: Simon Wilding, Guccio: David Shipley
Royal Opera House, Covent Garden: 29 February 2016
image=http://www.operatoday.com/Ermonela%20Jaho%20as%20Sister%20Angelica%20in%20Suor%20Angelica%20%C2%A9%20ROH%202016.%20Photograph%20by%20Bill%20Cooper.png
image_description=Ermonela Jaho as Sister Angelica in Suor Angelica [Photo © ROH 2016 by Bill Cooper]
product=yes
product_title=Il trittico, Royal Opera
product_by=A review by Robert Hugill
product_id=Above: Ermonela Jaho as Sister Angelica in Suor Angelica [Photo © ROH 2016 by Bill Cooper]