Although Opera Australia’s heavy reliance on Puccini has often been remarked upon, the Italian master’s oeuvre has in fact only been patchily covered by the company in recent years. The present production of Il trittico, receiving its first performance in Australia since 2007, proves that there is gold beyond the predictable succession of Puccini standards that Sydney audiences have experienced in the last few decades. Demanding to stage it may be, but cast and creatives unanimously rose to those demands, resulting in a show that was a triumph from start to finish.
Superficially, an opera with a triptych of separate plots might recall the disparate dramaturgy of The Tales of Hoffmann, but without the overt narrative binding provided by Offenbach’s Prologue and Epilogue. Puccini’s Il trittico works instead on the principle of emotional contrast, taking the audience from the brutal verismo tragedy of Il tabarro through the sentimental drama of Suor Angelica to finish with the belly laughs of Gianni Schicchi.
The separateness of the three parts is further illustrated by the fact that each is directed by a different home-grown talent (Constantine Costi, Imara Savage and Shaun Rennie respectively). Visually, too, Michael Hankin (responsible for set and costumes) and Verity Hampson (lighting) create highly distinct worlds: the seamy dockyards of Tabarro and the lavish interior of Schicchi are given realistic sets, whereas Suor Angelica feels more symbolic and abstract: bathed in white light, with the title character’s herb garden the only notable on-stage item.
Some singers performed in more than one of the constituent operas, with Simon Meadows taking the significant part of Michele in Tabarro as well as the title role in Gianni Schicchi. Convincing as the jealous, brooding husband in the first, he reached new heights as the trickster, his authoritative vocal delivery matched to an excellent comedic sensibility. Stacey Alleaume went one better by appearing in all three; in the third, she sang the famous number “O mio babbino caro” with finesse and feeling to predictable audience applause.
Newcomers to the OA stage included tenor Viktor Antipenko, who was excellent as Luigi in Il tabarro; his on-stage lover, Giorgetta, was played in Saturday’s performance by Fiona Jopson, substituting for the indisposed Olivia Cranwell. Vocally she was all that could be desired, although the last-minute substitution meant a few dramatic beats were a little off, especially in her response to Luigi’s murder. Another OA debutante was Lauren Fagan as Angelica: her beautifully shaped lines made this an absolutely heartrending performance, the undoubted emotional highpoint of the afternoon.
Just as a satyr-play lightened the mood after the performance of tragedies in Ancient Athens, Gianni Schicchi offered us riotous, knockabout fun, a welcome reminder that opera can encompass slapstick as well as the sublime. The ensemble of singers playing the would-be heirs to the Donati fortune, which included notable comedic talents like Kanen Breen (as Gherardo, though looking like a demented Adrian Brody) as well as OA stalwarts such as Jane Ede (Nella) and Richard Anderson (Simone), hammed up their parts with gusto. Angela Hogan, who had excelled as a strong-voiced Frugola in Il tabarro, was outstanding again as the peroxide-curled La Ciesca.
Tomas Dalton, who along with Alleaume had a brief cameo as the two lovers in Tabarro, was paired with her again here, singing the role of the aspiring fiancé Rinuccio in a light, pleasing tenor. A tip of the cap to the young Hugo Gilmovich, who had to launch the opera alone on stage noisily slurping from a drink, and participated well in the comic business right up to the final curtain. The unnamed actor who played the deceased Buoso and remained inert as he was stripped, manhandled and shoved into a cupboard (shades of the famous Fawlty Towers “Kipper and the Corpse” episode) added much to the hilarity, and deserved the ovation he got at the curtain.
The unsung heroes (pun intended) were the orchestral players under Lidiya Yankovskaya, who provided unflagging support in shaping the different emotional realms, including the deliciously crude playing of the winds in the off-key waltz in Tabarro, the smooth string parallelisms in Suor Angelica, and the delectably articulated accompaniment in Gianni Schicchi, where the singers’ lines were always audible (a crucial element in comedy).
In sum, a wonderful new production by Opera Australia, showcasing the abilities of the company when it ventures outside its standard repertory. If the Puccini canon is to be explored further here, can we hope for La rondine, Manon Lescaut or other rarities in future seasons?
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