Composed by Giacomo Puccini. Libretto by Giovacchino Forzano.
First Performance: 14 December 1918, Metropolitan Opera,
New York
| Principal Roles: | |
| Suor Angelica | Soprano |
| La Zia Principessa [The Princess, her aunt] | Contralto |
| La Badessa [The Abbess] | Mezzo-Soprano |
| La Suora Zelatrice [The Monitress] | Mezzo-Soprano |
| La Maestra delle Novizie [The Mistress of the novices] | Mezzo-Soprano |
| Suor Genoveffa | Soprano |
| Suor Osmina | Soprano |
| Suor Dolcina | Soprano |
| La suora infermiera [The nursing sister] | Mezzo-Soprano |
| Le cercatrici [The alms sisters] | Soprano and Mezzo-Soprano |
| Le novizie [The novices] | Soprano and Mezzo-Soprano |
| Le converse [The lay sisters] | Soprano and Mezzo-Soprano |
Setting:The courtyard of a convent, towards the end of the 17th
century
Synopsis:
As the nuns talk and attend to their duties, the question of earthly
desires is raised. Suor Genovieffa confesses that she would love to hold a
lamb again and Suor Dolcina longs for rich food. Suor Angelica says that she
has no unfulfilled wishes, but her colleagues do not believe her, as they
know she has been longing to hear from her noble family for seven years,
since she had been forced to enter the convent. One of the sisters has been
stung by a wasp and Angelica, who has extensive herbal know-ledge, provides
the appropriate medication. Two nuns who have been out in the world in search
of food report that a fine carriage is outside the gates, but are unable to
answer Angelica’s questions about its coat of arms. She is summoned by the
abbess: her aunt the princess has come to see her, not from sympathy but
because, as the legal guardian of Angelica and her sister Anna Viola, she
needs Angelica’s signature to a document. Anna Viola is to be married, to a
man, she adds harshly, who has forgiven the stain on the family honor caused
by Angelica’s sin.
Angelica longs for news of her baby son, but is told that he had died.
Left alone in her grief, she mixes a fatal brew and drinks it. Realising that
she has committed a mortal sin, she prays for forgiveness. As she dies she
sees a vision of the Virgin leading her child to her.
[Synopsis Source: Opera~Opera]
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image_description=Giacomo Puccini: Suor Angelica
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product_by=Suor Angelica (Barbara Frittoli); La Zia Principessa (Mariana Lipovšek); Badessa (Cinzia De Mola); La Suora Zelatrice (Anita Raveli); La Maestra delle Novizie (Alessandra Palomba); Suor Genoveffa (Francesca Sassu); Suor Osmina (Francesca Garbi); Suor Dolcina (Carla Di Censo); La suora infermiera (Dionisia Di Vico); Una novizia (Irina Kapanadze); Le cercatrice (Sae Kyung Rim and Adelina Scarabelli); Le converse (Anna Zoroberto and Sabina Cacioppo). Orchestra e Coro del Teatro alla Scala. Riccardo Chailly, conducting. Live performance: 13 March 2008, Milan.