Puccini's Il Trittico - Metropolitan Opera James Levine Exclusive DVD

I attended a performance of this opera many years ago and it was burned in my mind and always wanted a DVD of it. Well, the MET has come through once again.Scotto has achieved an artistic milestone in the portrayal of each of the heroinesof all three operas. Her sensuous Giorgetta of "Il Tabarro" shows a sign of her great acting skills we have seldom seen...her scenes with Vasile Moldoveanu are "hot". Cornell MacNeil is up-to-par as her husband who knows what's going on and is no fool.The part of Lauretta in "Gianni Schicchi" is actually small but Scotto delivers the aria "O Mio Babbino Caro" as a sweet loving daughter who knows how to get to her father, wonderfully sung and acted by Gabriel Bacquier. Otherwise Puccini manages to keep Lauretta out of hilarious nonsense of the wonderful ensemble in this production.I saved the best for last..."Suor Angelica", which is actually the second of the three operas. This is one of the most effective characterizations Scotto has done. Just make sure that you have plenty of tissues on hand! I absolutely love this opera and so will you.Audio (DTS 5.1) and Video are excellent. There are English sub-titles!Again, my thanks to the Met for releasing this beautiful production.

The voices here are generally unpleasant to listen to. Scotto always was a trial, but by this point in her career she could peel the paint off the wall, especially in her upper register. There's a high C in the Tabarro that I think could kill your dog, so beware. Cornell MacNeil was a great singer in his prime, but he is past it here and dry and wobbly as Michele. Vasile Maldoveanu is fine and has some powerful moments. Most of the smaller part voices range from decent to mediocre. These are three of my favorite operas when sung by excellent singers (which as far as complete recordings go means singers generally from the 40s and 50s). Here I frequently found myself wishing that I could just hear the orchestra. My attention frequently wandered. It's quite a feat to make Puccini boring, and lackluster singing is pretty much the only way to do it.The poor singing is a shame, because the production and acting are all very good. Scotto is a good, intense actor, although she sometimes goes past intense and winds up at hammy. Still, if her voice weren't like a knife in my tympanic membrane, I would be highly satisfied with her performance as Giorgetta. Lauretta is another matter. She just looks so old and out of place that it's ridiculous. Bacquier is a great Schicchi, but by this point his voice is very dry and lacks smoothness and charm. Maldoveanu and MacNeil are fine, though a bit one dimensional, and MacNeil has a few funny faces.Levine is a good conductor for this music, and you can tell he has a lot of experience in Puccini and a good understanding of the scores. The Met Orchestra plays very well, as usual.So overall, it's a great visual and orchestral representation of these operas marred by poor singing. Unfortunately, this combination has become standard in opera now. Opera is now much more a show for directors and charismatic stage presences than for great singers. If you want better, richer, more beautiful singing, check out Clara Petrella as Giorgetta, Giuseppe Taddei or Renato Capecchi as Schicchi, Giovanni Inghilleri as Michele, Rosanna Carteri as Angelica. The original cast at the world premiere of Il Trittico at the MET in 1918 included singers like Giuseppe De Luca, Claudia Muzio, Giulio Crimi, Florence Easton, Geraldine Farrar, and Luigi Montesanto. Of these, unfortunately only Easton has left a record of her performance of this music (a wonderful O mio babbino caro). Listen to their voices, style, musicianship, and technique in recordings of Puccini, however, and you will be able to imagine what the premiere must have been like, and you will see how mediocre this performance at the same theater, only 63 years later, is.

Perhaps I should say right off I love Puccini. I bought this DVD at the urging of other reviewers, though I am a late comer to the Renata Scotto fan club. I took their word for her and am so glad I did. Wow. I'm suspicious of words like ""transcendent" or "ravishing" when trying to praise a performance. If I don't feel it in my gut, forget it. These performances passed that test with flying colors. I confess to being a bit annoyed during Suor Angelica with the persistent cough of someone in the audience, but I finally forgot about it - the portrayal of the hapless sister was so intense and real. While many consider Gianni Schicci the gem of the lot, I find it rather tiresome and silly. Excessive mugging does not do much for me. The cast was having fun though, and I guess that counts for something. But the music, the music, the music. It held me captive from beginning to end. It will be one of my favorites from now on.

First: are you missing from your collection a DVD of this Pucccini classic?Second: do you like the music of Il Trittico?Third: do you care much if the production is dull?If the answer to two of the three is "affirmative"...then it should be part of your collection of opera DVDs.(and Flemming is terrific)..

I have seen Suor Angelica a few times on the stage and I have every production of it on DVD and I must say that no other singer in this part has moved me like Ms. Scotto was able to.She proved to be a real singing actress.It was a truly spellbinding performance. Just to see Suor Angelica is worth the price of this DVD, and more.I liked how the ending was done, no angels bringing a child or other tricks, just Angelica "imagining" that she's holding her child in her arms.The only thing was that I did not think that The Aunt was at the same vocal and dramatic level of Scotto, however their confrontation was powerful and the Senza Mama moved me to tears.Brava, Brava, Bravissima!!

Scotto was in voice at the time and is superb. But four years before when the production debuted she was even better. Too bad they waited for the next time she sang the role. Il Tabarro has an excellent cast supporting Scotto; Cornell McNeil, the tenor are right on target. Scotto's acting in Suor Angelica is beyond reproach and all the business while she prepares the poison well done. Her death is unmatched by any other soprano. Gianni Schicchi is a lark and lightly performed by the soprano.