Il Trittico
Puccini’s second world premiere at the Met took place on December 14, 1918. Il Trittico (The Triptych) consists of three contrasting pieces: a grimly veristic tragedy, Il Tabarro; an impassioned tearjerker, Suor Angelica; and a comic farce, Gianni Schicchi. The triple bill was a succès d’estime at the opening, but neither the critical nor public reception were enthusiastic enough to keep all three works in the repertory for long. Gianni Schicchi was widely acclaimed as the masterpiece, and it continued to be produced in tandem with other short works such as Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci and, most peculiarly, Strauss’s Salome. Il Tabarro has, on rare occasions, been programmed with another work, but Suor Angelica has only been given as part of the full triptych.
Il Trittico in its entirety was not performed between 1920 and 1975. It was with the 1975 production by Fabrizio Melano, designed by David Reppa, that Il Trittico finally became a regular part of the Met repertory. Jack O’Brien’s handsome new production in 2007 renewed interest in Il Trittico, which has now had 81 performances in Met history, with all but 11 of those since 1975.
Galileo Chini designed the set for the world premiere of Gianni Schicchi.
Left: After the world premiere of Il Trittico, General Manager Giulio Gatti-Casazza cabled Puccini assuring him that the new work was enthusiastically received by public and press. He counted 40 curtain calls in total for the three operas and said that Lauretta’s aria had to be repeated in spite of the house policy forbidding encores. He praised the principal artists and noted that the critics particularly favored Gianni Schicchi. His glowing assessment notwithstanding, Il Trittico failed to achieve the immediate popularity that other Puccini operas did.
Right: This full stage shot of Gianni Schicchi is from the world-premiere production at the Met in 1918. Of the three works in the trilogy, only Gianni Schicchi received unqualified critical approval.
Photo: White Studios
Left: Soprano Geraldine Farrar was immensely popular with Met audiences in 1918. Known for her emotive acting, Farrar was well suited to the title role of Suor Angelica.
Photo: White Studios
Right: The sterling premiere cast of Il Tabarro included soprano Claudia Muzio as Giorgetta, tenor Giulio Crimi as Luigi, and baritone Luigi Montesanto as Michele. The trio of Italians received acclaim for their “alive and effective acting” and “excellent” singing.
Photo: White Studios
Left: English soprano Florence Easton and Italian tenor Giulio Crimi were both relative newcomers to the Met when they created the roles of Lauretta and Rinuccio in Gianni Schicchi. Having made her debut only the previous season, Easton would go on to become a noted Butterfly and would also appear as Tosca and Turandot. Crimi’s Met career was shorter, lasting only until 1922.
Photo: White Studios
Right: Giuseppe De Luca, among the Met’s most admired Italian baritones in his quarter century with the company, holds the record for the most performances in the title role of Gianni Schicchi.
Photo: White Studios
Canadian soprano Teresa Stratas, noted as an intense singing actress, sang all three soprano leads in Il Trittico in 1989. She is seen above as Giorgetta in Il Tabarro, at center as Suor Angelica, and below with American tenor Vinson Cole in Gianni Schicchi.
Photo: Winnie Klotz
Filipino soprano Evelyn Mandac made her Met debut as Lauretta in the premiere of the 1975 production of Il Trittico.
Photo: Frank Lerner
In 1976, Renata Scotto was the first soprano to sing the lead role in all three operas of Il Trittico at the Met. She repeated the feat in 1981—a performance telecast as part of PBS’s Live from the Met series—in which French baritone Gabriel Bacquier sang Gianni Schicchi to her Lauretta.
Photo: James Heffernan
The 2007 new production featured Italian baritone Alessandro Corbelli as Gianni Schicchi, joined here by mezzo-soprano Stephanie Blythe as Zita, mezzo-soprano Patricia Risley as Ciesca, and soprano Jennifer Check as Nella.
Photo: Ken Howard
Left: Jack O’Brien’s 2007 production of Suor Angelica starred Italian soprano Barbara Frittoli in the title role. Mezzo-soprano Stephanie Blythe appeared in all three operas in the trilogy: as Frugola in Il Tabarro, the Princess in Suor Angelica, and Zita in Gianni Schicchi.
Photo: Ken Howard
Right: The set for the 2007 production of Il Tabarro included an enormous reproduction of a river barge. Ukrainian soprano Maria Guleghina sang Giorgetta, and Spanish baritone Juan Pons was Michele.
Photo: Ken Howard
Il Trittico