Guidance
Content suitable for all.
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Il trittico: In partnership with Rolex, Principal Partner, The Royal Opera
Synopsis
When Buoso Donati dies, his family are horrified to learn that he has left all his money to a monastery. They turn to the cunning Gianni Schicchi to help them change his will. But the plan backfires! Gianni Schicchi, impersonating Donati, makes a will leaving the best of the inheritance to himself – while cheerfully reminding the outraged family of the gruesome punishment they face if their plot is revealed.
Creatives
The artists and creatives behind the production
Music
Libretto
Director
Set Designer
Costume Designer
Lighting Designer
Choreographer
Discover
Gianni Schicchi tells the comic tale of a gold-digging family who think they can get their lawyer to fiddle a will in their favour. Little do they realise, their laywer, Gianni Schicchi, has another plan up his sleeve... Richard Jones’s production sets the action in Italy in the mid-20th century, with John Macfarlane’s designs providing a lively backdrop for the twists and turns of the plot.
Puccini’s comic gem
Giacomo Puccini created Gianni Schicchi – the final work in his contrasting triple bill of operas – Il trittico – with the ’desire to laugh and make others laugh’. The opera was his last comedy and the opera’s domestic setting and masterful timing recalls some of the great Italian comic operas of the 19th century, such as Giuseppe Verdi’s Falstaff. Puccini based the opera on a passage from Dante Alighieri’s The Divine Comedy, and engaged writer Giovacchino Forzano to create the libretto.
A musical marvel
The score of Gianni Schicchi is lively and varied in tone, including Lauretta’s famous aria, ‘O mio babbino caro’, in which she begs her father to intervene to help her marry her sweetheart Rinuccio. Other highlights include the grand comic ensemble in which Schicchi impersonates the dying Donati and remakes his will.
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