Gianni Schicchi
Puccini’s trio of operas, Il trittico, concludes with a riotous black comedy, brought to the stage in Richard Jones’s joyful and witty production.
Introduction
When Buoso Donati dies, his family are horrified to learn that he has left all his money to a monastery. They turn to the cunning Gianni Schicchi to help them change his will. But will their plan backfire?
News and features
Il trittico DVD nominated for BBC Music Magazine Award
Award to be decided by public vote.
Gianni Schicchi to be broadcast on BBC Four on Friday
Watch the third and final of Puccini’s Il trittico, directed by Richard Jones.
Puccini's Il trittico released on DVD
Richard Jones's acclaimed production available to buy from ROH shop.
Il trittico and Eva-Maria Westbroek shortlisted for RPS Music awards
Two Royal Opera nominations in this year's Royal Philharmonic Society Awards.
Top films featuring opera 15-11
The second in our series featuring among others La traviata on a bus in the Australian outback and Bond in Bregenz.
Background
Giacomo Puccini created Gianni Schicchi – the final work in his contrasting triple bill of operas, Il trittico – from a ‘desire to laugh and make others laugh’. It is his last comedy and its robust humour recalls some of the great Italian comic operas of the 19th century, such as Giuseppe Verdi’s Falstaff. Puccini based the opera on a passage from Dante Aligheri’s The Divine Comedy, and engaged writer Giovacchino Forzano to create the libretto.
Richard Jones’s production places the action in Italy in the mid-20th century and John Macfarlane’s designs provide a lively backdrop for the twists and turns of the plot. The score displays a kaleidoscope of different musical styles, including Lauretta’s famous aria, ‘O mio babbino caro’, in which she begs her father to intervene to help her marry her sweetheart Rinuccio, and the grand comic ensemble in which Schicchi impersonates the dying Buoso and remakes his will.
Please note
This work is part of the trio of operas Il trittico
Credits
| Director | Richard Jones |
| Set designs | John Macfarlane |
| Costume designs | Nicky Gillibrand |
| Lighting design | Mimi Jordan Sherin |
| Choreography | Lucy Burge |
