Radio Times

Review by:

Patrick Mulkern

Conductor Antonio Pappano sets up this opera in his introduction as a “comic masterpiece”, which seems a stretch, given what follows. Gianni Schicchi (pronounced “skeeky”), last in a Puccini triple bill, probably won’t have you in stitches but, updated in Richard Jones’s Royal Opera House production to a lurid 1960s bedroom setting, it does gain an Ortonesque edge.

An old Florentine miser dies in bed and his relatives are apoplectic to learn that he’s left his fortune to a bunch of monks. Vituperation and corpse-manhandling make way for O mio babbino caro, one of Puccini’s most affecting and popular arias.

About this programme

3/3. The concluding part of Puccini's operatic triptych - Gianni Schicchi, a comic opera set in Florence, Italy. When a wealthy miser dies, his relatives race to find his will and get their hands on the inheritance, turning to a local trickster for help. Introduced by Antonio Pappano, who also conducts the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. Starring Lucio Gallo, Ekaterina Siurina and Lisa Anne Robinson, and directed for the stage by Richard Jones.

Cast and crew

Cast

Gianni Schicchi

Lucio Gallo

Lauretta

Ekaterina Siurina

Nella

Lisa Anne Robinson

Zita

Elena Zilio

Gherardo

Alan Oke

Crew

Director

Francesca Kemp

Producer

Alison Grist

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