March 2020
by Alexander Zemlinsky
& Giacomo Puccini
March 7th, 2020 @ 7:30pm
March 8th, 2020 @ 2:00pm
March 14th, 2020 @ 7:30pm
March 15th, 2020 @ 2:00pm
Two one-act operas – one a tragedy, one a comedy, both set in Florence. Based on fragmentary tales by two literary giants: Oscar Wilde in the first case, Dante Alighieri in the second. One tells a tale of jealousy and commerce, the other of greed and commerce. In A Florentine Tragedy, we have music and drama of Wagnerian intensity, in Gianni Schicchi brilliant comedy and one of the most memorable arias in all of opera. Both operas are guaranteed to captivate in utterly different ways. Sung in German and Italian with English supertitles.
Florence, Italy, 1917. Bianca is the young and beautiful wife of a wealthy, but elderly merchant in Florence. She is unhappy with her husband, and takes a lover: a young Florentine aristocrat. The action takes place in Simone’s home, full of bolts of luxurious materials. Simone arrives home early from a business trip, suspecting that he will catch his wife with a lover. When he finds Bianca and Guido together, he pretends to believe that Guido has come to buy cloth. Guido pretends to fall in love with this idea, and is happy to be shown various samples. He agrees to buy a damask cloth and then a velvet robe, with payment being sent the following day. The exchanges become on the surface light-hearted, but it is clear that there is serious animosity developing, as the men goad one another. Bianca’s hatred of her husband also becomes clear as she begins to support Guido’s side. A fight ensues, as Bianca initially supports Guido against the loathsome husband, and the younger man succeeds in wounding the merchant. However in the hand-to-hand struggle that follows the older man’s physical strength prevails. Bianca has seen, in his raw physical strength, an attractive side to her husband she had not been aware of before, and Simone realizes his wife’s beauty.
Source: Scottish Opera
Hear an analysis of the music and story from A Florentine Tragedy as presented by Stephen Johnson of BBC Radio.
ListenFlorence, Italy, 1917. The greedy relatives of the wealthy Buoso Donati discover that the deceased has left his fortune to the church. The young Rinuccio suggests that Gianni Schicchi, a shrewd, self-made man and the father of his girlfriend, Lauretta, can help them. Schicchi appears with his daughter. Disgusted by the hypocrisy and avarice of the aristocratic family, he is about to leave but persuaded to stay by Lauretta who proclaims her intention to marry Rinuccio (O mio babbino caro). Reading the will, Schicchi devises a plan to impersonate the dead man. The relatives send for the notary and Schicchi, wearing Buoso’s nightshirt and cap, from his sickbed dictates a new will, in which he leaves the greater part of the estate, including the house they are in, to his “dear friend Gianni Schicchi.” The relatives are furious, and steal what they can from the house, chased out by Schicchi, who remains behind with Lauretta and Rinuccio. Turning to the audience, he points out how happy his fraud has made the young lovers and pleads that he not be judged too harshly.
Source: Metropolitan Opera – Note: This one-act opera premiered at the Met on December 14, 1918
Cast
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