Customer Reviews

Puccini - Il Trittico (Il Tabarro / Suor Angelica / Gianni Schicchi) / Gavazzeni, La Scala

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a beautiful production of Puccini's trio of short, one-act operas. Most underrated, and most impressive here, is the first piece, IL TABARRO, starring Piero Cappuccilli and legendary soprano/actress Sylvia Sass, both of whom perform with a high level of intensity, passion, tenderness and complexity. The music is gorgeous and fascinating, with some wonderful duets that come organically out of the story. Watch how the light gradually gets dimmer and dimmer as the opera progresses and as the story gets darker and darker.

I have always loved this threesome, though I also consider Schicchi the weakest of all Puccini works. It is great to have it available to see as well as to listen to. After many years of singing opera for a living, I know that I may tend to be a little "jaded". So, as brief as possible: the singing in these performances is really quite good and I will not try to compare with so many better on audio only! That said: The real drawback of this is the staging and acting - did I say act and opera in the same sentence? Tabarro goes along fine until the "murder and revelation". It makes "opera" look as stilted as we know it can be. I know only too well how difficult it is to sing high C and attempt to act, but this was filmed. Sour Angelica - beautifully sung, even if Plowright has a "different" voice for this role and lacks the top notes requied. I simply do not know what that visual ending was suppose to be. I watched this DVD, for the first time, with a novice who had gotten the full build-up from me: only to be befuddled at the end. Sometimes I think that the old fashioned ,statue turns revealing "live" Madonna and a child, is better, not high tech, but effective. This DVD is worth buying because it is the only way to hear and see these works that no longer seem to be in favor and to show others that there is more to the Trittico than just "O mia Babino caro"!

Il Trittico di Puccini is a delight! IL TABARRO, though not a favorite of this opera devotee, is very well done here. I'm sure Puccini would be pleased with the acting and singing, especially of Cappuccilli and Sass. If there is a disappointment with the trio of little operas, it is Rosalind Plowright as SUOR ANGELICA. This is not a role for the usually splendid Plowright. It was quite a surprise to hear her take alternative low notes to the scored high ones, especially following the dramatic "Senza Mama, Bimbo." One expects to hear high Cs and D flats to be sung as written. The costumer is also faulted for a very sloppy headdress! That is inexculable! The compensation might be that the on-screen translation is quite good. GIANNI SCHICCHI is great fun! Juan Pons shone in the title role as the conniving Gianni! Surprising was the clever performance of dramatic mezzo-soprano Eleanora Jankovic Always to be counted on is the fine musicianship and understanding of Maestro Gianandrea Gavazzeni. Superior performances are part and parcel of the Chorus and Orchestrs of La Scala, Milano. They did not let any of us down with these three. Directing opera for Video requires an extraordinary talent! Brian Large has learned that craft well! For those who rate these three so low, the same who have given bad reviews to other great performances, I cannot help but wonder if theirs is a faulty piece of equipment. No reviewer worth his salt expects to gain total agreement. However, no one wants his artistic tastes to be demeaned. G.K. Brown, DMA Prof. of Music (Ret.)

I actually bought this dvd for Sour Angelica, especially for Plowright. I only knew famous excerpts of other two operas. I don't agree with the view that Plowright was miscasted. I'm her admirer since her La Forza recording and now have seen her stage performance. As for Gianni Schichi and Il Tabarro, Juan Pons and Cappucilli were on their peak.

I wish ALL acts of Il Trittico were more popular and more availible, but I am glad that these productions exist in order to provide more accessibility to such a wonderful set of operas. This production has its flaws, but then again what production doesn't? Tabarro is my favorite opera; and althought Sylvia Sass is a rather poor actress and her diction is less than articulate, her voice is quite nice as Giorgetta. Martinucci as Luigi does an admirable job with an extremely difficult role, but the real gem of the production is Piero Cappuccilli. Throughout the production Cappuccilli not only delivers the appropriate emotions, but he also delivers some of the most beautiful and menacing singing. His ending plea to Giorgetta is amazing, and "Nulla, silenzio" is perhaps at the finest I have heard it. This is a wonderful production with Cappuccilli; and even though the acting is not the best at times and even though it COULD be better, this production is more than satisfactory...it is GREAT

Suor Angelica is wonderful, but Plowright was not meant for that role. Angelica needs to be light, agile, and able to sing the C's and D's which are MEANT to be sung. All in all this is a good production, but I would have liked to see a better Angelica.

Gianni Schicchi is, as others have said, good but not great. It is loud for most of the production, but the wonderful Juan Pons delivers a superb performance as Gianni. The other roles are satisfactory and the story gets across to the audience. Once again this could have been better, but I enjoyed what was performed.

All in all this really is a set of good performances which are highlighted by Cappuccilli and Pons. I would suggest this DVD to anyone interested in developing a love for Tabarro and for anyone wishing to see three good performance of Puccini's Il Trittico.

These performances were way below what one would expect from La Scala. Though my least favorite of the Trittico was always 'Tabarro', it's the best one here as far as set, performances and direction. The three leads were all good, but the direction was adequate at best and besides, it's still the weakest of the trio and least performed for that reason.

Suor Angelica had a good orchestral performance, but that was it. I'd never seen Plowright live and based on this would avoid any performance she was in. The few high notes she did get (and they were few) were short and harsh as if she were a mezzo asked to hit a high C. The staging was grand but in an inappropriate way. It looked more like a stark palace than a cloistered convent. The ending was such a disappointment to me since I'd seen Scotto do this at the Met. Though I never liked the idea that the miracle is only seen by Angelica and not the audience, it requires an astounding performance to pull that off. Lastly the Gianni Schicci production gave me the sense that I was watching a production as staged by a 2nd rate Music College. Adequate, predictable, and limited. As if there were a bunch of musicians and theater people who got together to do something that they had never done before and, though talented, had no inspiration to do something special with it. It's as if they new it was a comedy, but had never seen one before.

There are a number of recordings out there and all are better than this.

If the current new production (2007) at the Met ever goes to DVD, I'd pay $100 for it without blinking an eye. There, a standard has been set.

This is a production from La Sacla in Milan. Puccini's music is always wonderful. The cast was well selected and the sets worked well. These are three one act operas that all deal with death and each one has its own drama. This was cought very well. The greatest drama is in SUOR ANGELICA and the soprano is outstanding. I recommend this if you are a Puccini fan.

I don't much care for Il Tabarro in general and have no great attachment Suor Angelica, but both were sung, acted and staged quite well. I love Gianni Schicci, though, and it was truly wonderful!
In the entire production there were only two things I didn't like. First, the murder scene at the end of Il Tabarro was a bit unconvincing, but I do not know what they could have done to make it better. The sight of a man singing while he is being strangled will always be a trifle unbelievable. My second problem was the costume the tenor in Gianni Schicci was wearing. It was very ugly and very effeminate.
However, both of these were relitivly minor problems and detracted hardly at all from my over all enjoyment.

I agree almost completely with JWALKER019. This ugle 1983 production looks like it was from the 1950's and Gianni S. is downright embarrassing. The costuming there makes everyone look absurd. Tabarro has little passion most of the time but the singing is good. Angelica is okay but it is not a part for Plowright and I definitely did not like Dunja Vejzovic as the Princess. It is great to have this opera on DVD but otherwise it was a big disappointment. No goosebumps here. I just finished watching my old tape from 1981 of the Met broadcast with Scotto in all three of the 1 acters. What a delight -- some weak points here and there but it has passion in spades and that's what these need. Scotto was incredible in Suor Angelica. We should be so lucky to have these performances released on DVD but that is highly unlikely. I've given this La Scala DVD 2 stars but that is probably being generous.

I was very happy to find this operas in your cataloge. I will be coming back to you when I need classical music.