In 13th century Florence, there really was a true skulduggery over nobly born Busoni Donati’s Will when peasant Gianni Schicchi was called upon to advise the family. For his impersonation and immoral personal gain, Dante placed him in the eighth circle of hell reserved for tricksters. Puccini saw it rather differently and in this, his last completed opera, asks us to take into account the ‘extenuating circumstances’ faced by one of opera’s most lovable rogues. Indeed, Opera Bohemia asks the audience in a strapline, “How far would you go?”
The excitement of the Edinburgh Fringe is its cacophony of talent, from stand-up comedians, chainsaw jugglers, serious and not so serious theatre and everything in between. It was a delight therefore to discover Opera Bohemia tucked away in St Cuthbert’s Parish church at the west end of Princes Street Gardens. This young company has brought together some top singers, most of whom have at some point been trained at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in Glasgow (formerly the RSAMD) but are now further on in their careers. With a small ensemble of handpicked orchestral players, standards were extremely high.
Magnus Popplewell designed an effective economic touring set depicting a 1980s modern apartment in Florence, a challenge in an opera with a large cast to get on stage and which normally calls for a four poster bed. As we took our seats, a seriously doddery Buoso Donati was being helped into his recliner chair surrounded by tidy bookshelves containing a mixture of reading material and boxes of papers accumulated over the years. A dresser with a cross, candles and icons above explains why, after his passing and to the disgust of his grasping family, he has left all his wealth to the Church. The Donati family call in Gianni Schicchi to see if there is anything that can be done, and so begins an evening of huge fun driven by avarice and snobbery.
Director Tom Cooper worked wonders in the small performing space with some great comic moments and ingenious stagecraft, yet he allowed the piece to breathe at key times too, particularly for the handful of arias. With a body to hide, impersonation to achieve believably and a dozen singers in a small space, there were lots of challenges, all of which were met with ease. Cooper struck the delicate balance of never quite letting this dark tale spill over into full pantomime.