Three for one: Puccini's "Il Trittico" returns to the Teatro Colón

"I deeply regret that Il Trittico is being given in parts—I gave my permission for two operas, not one, in conjunction with the Ballet Russes," lamented Giacomo Puccini in a letter to his friend and confidant Sybil Seligman. In the same letter, the composer rants at length against Higgins, Beecham, and all the "swine" who run Covent Garden for refusing to stage Suor Angelica , one of the works in the triptych and a Puccini favorite, and instead choosing the Ballets Russes.

“It was an abuse of power on the part of the management, because they had agreed on two operas per night and not one to serve as a trailer for the failed Ballets Russes. Mr. Higgins has not acted loyally to me. And I will tell Ricordi to deny my works for next year... swine, real swine! I'll put them all in one bag: porga, vapore, and Higgins!” The letter closes with another complaint about the heat in Italy and its political situation, and a desire to leave Torre del Lago and Bagni di Lucca.

During and after World War II , Puccini created Il Trittico at a period of full creative maturity: a collection of three one-act operas ( Il tabarro, Sour Angelica , and Gianni Schicchi ) with the aim of experimenting with an innovative form. Within the revivals that marked the modernity of the early 20th century, the one-act opera format was gaining acceptance. Aware of these innovations, the author of Madama Butterfly created a narrative arc in his triptych that challenged the operatic conventions of the time, while also offering a diverse and compact theatrical experience.

In one evening, three distinct genres: the dark, veristic drama of Il tabarro , the lyrical, spiritual tragedy of Sour Angelica , and the satirical comedy of Gianni Schicchi . Each opera presents a unique tone, atmosphere, and musical style.

The first features a libretto by Giuseppe Adami, the other two by Giovacchino Forzano. The story of Il tabarro takes place on a boat on the Seine. A love triangle with a tragic ending unfolds against the backdrop of a dark and hopeless world. With its atmosphere of atonement and longing, Suor Angelica explores sacrifice and faith through the character of a noblewoman forced into a convent when she becomes pregnant. There, she receives news of the death of her illegitimate son, whom she never met, and decides to take her own life to be reunited with him. The triptych closes with the humorous tone of Gianni Schicchi , a comic gem featuring one of the most popular arias in the history of opera: "O mio babbino caro."

The work also showcases Puccini's flair for comedy, although it was a genre he rarely explored. Featuring a cunning and charismatic anti-hero protagonist, the opera tells the story of an ambitious family who, upon learning that the wealthy Buoso Donati had left his entire fortune to a convent, enlist the cunning Gianni Schicchi to forge the will for their benefit. Schicchi agrees to help, but immediately takes the best properties for himself. The comic and satirical opera celebrates mischief over aristocratic greed.

From its premiere at the Metropolitan Opera in 1918, there were difficulties in accepting Il Trittico as a coherent whole. Gianni Schicchi was an immediate success for its accessibility and humor, but Il tabarro was considered too somber and Suor Angelica overly sentimental, leading to mixed reviews. This initial perception, although it changed, influenced the performance as Puccini had intended: all three works in a single performance. Each of the works comprising Il Trittico began to be performed separately.

Puccini lamented this situation on more than one occasion because it broke with his unified vision, inspired by Dante Alighieri 's Divine Comedy : an emotional journey from sinful darkness (Il Tabarro ), through suffering and redemption ( Suor Angelica ), to light and humor ( Gianni Schicchi ).

Puccini 's initial idea of ​​dedicating an opera to each of the three parts of the Divine Comedy is the focus of Pier Francesco Maestrini's production, which will be presented on May 2 at the Teatro Colón , in the version that the composer approved. Maestrini's production, previously presented at the Teatro Comunale di Bologna, stands out for its bold visual and conceptual reinterpretation.

The director argues that the initial connection between Puccini's triptych and the Divine Comedy cannot be overlooked. His interpretation proposes linking the three operas to Dante's work, drawing parallels between each of the operas and Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso .

This vision seeks to unify the works under a common conceptual thread, emphasizing emotional and thematic contrasts. The stage director explains, in the program notes he wrote for the Colón, that it was the librettist Forzano, a true expert on Dante, who convinced Puccini to combine Gianni Schicchi and Suor Angelica . Both works feature direct quotations from the Commedia, in Gianni Schicchi (Inferno XVI and XXX) and Suor Angelica (Paradise XXXIII).

The challenge that runs through all three plays, according to Maestrini, is to maintain credibility by bringing stories of souls and the dead to the stage in the place of living subjects. This challenge was met by implying that the audience, like a visitor, interrogates the souls of the play's characters.

“In the performance, I strove to convey the feeling of eternal, unbearable fatigue and absence of joy at every moment, repeated until the end of time,” wrote the director of Il Tabarro , linked to Dante’s hell, where time does not exist and suffering is eternal, just as in paradise where glory is eternal.

On the contrary, in purgatory, Maestrini argues, it is the only one of the three realms where time still exists; it is a "passage phase." According to this conception, in Suor Angelica, the performance slows down "in an exhausting, rarefied, and ethereal way." Schicchi is mentioned in the Inferno of the Divine Comedy ; Dante places him among the forgers. "A laugh will save us!" Maestrini quotes, explaining that the final opera, which closes the trilogy, is about redemption.

But, beyond all this, the director concludes: “A bit of healthy nonsense! Perhaps we might be somewhat perplexed by the fact that the opera revolves around the corpse of a dead man, when, by axiom, everyone is already dead. To this I reply that for Dante, all the damned are awaiting the Last Judgment, the famous second death. And so, in short, there is one dead man who is more dead than the rest!”

The production of Il Trittico is logistically demanding due to the need for three distinct casts, sets, and musical styles, which explains its less frequent programming compared to other operas. The Teatro Colón, which gave the Latin American premiere of Puccini's "triple-title" opera in 1919, is reprogramming it in its original form after 14 years.

* Il Trittico will be presented from May 2 to 13 at the Teatro Colón, Cerrito 628.