Customer Reviews

Il Trittico [Blu-ray]

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

 

 

Each of these three short operas (thankfully in traditional settings) are different and that adds to the enjoyment of this disc.

The first "The Cloak" starts off slowly and sets an atmosphere of boredom which slowly reveals an affair between the young wife of the barge owner and a casual employee. The tension rises to finish with inevitable tragedy. The acting and singing is first class with the lovely Amarilli Nizza particularly impressive.

The second opera "Sister Angelica" using music and acting very effectively sets the stultifying atmosphere of the convent but this slowly and effectively changes to one of pathos as the past life of Angela is revealed. Again, the singing and acting are engrossing and a tribute to the artistic genius of Puccini, a man not immune to scandal in his own love life.

The third opera "Gianni Schicchi" is also on another BD disc and, on balance, I prefer the Glynedebourne production. But that is not to condemn this comic production which again highlights the avarice and hypocracy of relatives greedy to have a share of the inheritance of their "beloved" Buoso Donati. The roles are deliberately and effectively over acted and accompanied by good singing. However some effort could have been made to have the dead Donati to be as corpulant as the imposter Schicchi for that substitution to have been a little more believable. But that is nit picking.

Audio and video are up to the usual high BD standards and I came away very impressed with the talents of Amarilla Nizza in three completely different and challenging roles and also impressed with the three different styles of composition by Puccini. Recommended.

John

There are not many releases of this little trio and this is by far the best I have seen. The picture quality is outstanding with excellent sound and the production, especially Il Tabarro and Suor Angelica, is extremely well done. There is another version of Gianni Schicchi on Blu ray that I marginally prefer but this one is also very good. If you want Il Trittico do not hesitate.

Three different one act operas. Adultery, tragedy of a non-married mother, and comic trickery sum up the three acts. Puccini succeeded in giving each one of the operas its character.

The production of Il tabarro is beautiful. In addition to the music the video shots are masterly done. Interesting to note, that the audience may be at a disadvantage as the different angles the video is shot is not available to the life audience. BlueRay technology excels here.

After Il tabarro, Sour Angelica disappoints a little. The moving columns are somehow confusing, at least in the video production. It is possible that for the life audience it is less of a problem. In addition, the appearance of the boy with an angel is not climatic enough.

Gianni Schicchi is funny and entertaining. The costumes seemed to me as an exaggeration and distraction from the music. Puccini created, with the libretto and the music, enough character for the greed of the Donati family. There is still some controversy if the "O mio babbino caro"aria's character fits the rest of the opera, but there is no doubt it is a beautiful aria. For some reason, it lacks enough Umpff.

The three operas are produced in the "traditional" way. The music and the singers are very good. The overall human expressions are there as Puccini probably wanted. The sound is great and the filming is good. Recommended for an enjoyable evening and, Gianni Schicchi in particular, a good show to introduce someone to the world of opera

Picture quality is excellent.

I listened to the DTS - MA 7.1 surround track and found the recording quality somewhere between very good and excellent. The sound stage is quite wide and very deep. A tad more use of the surround channels to widen the stage a bit more and bring the applause more from the back and I would have called it excellent.

The principal singers carry microphones on their bodies, but well hidden. There are only a handful of shots where you see a hint of a microphone. The voices move along as the singers move, so they don't come out only through the center speaker. The orchestra and chorus are well balanced and hardly ever drown the principals. The benefit of carrying microphones. Overall, very enjoyable to listen to and one of the better sound recordings.

Much to my surprise, the sound engineer isn't even mentioned in the booklet, let alone on the cover. You have to wait for the final credits to find out it's Elfride Foroni. Please give the woman some credit in the booklet!