Gianni Schicchi - L’heure espagnole

The diptych Gianni Schicchi by Giacomo Puccini / L'heure espagnole by Maurice Ravel, comic operas in one act with the musical direction of Michele Mariotti, are on stage at the Teatro dell'Opera of Rome.

The new production constitutes the second stage of the Recomposed triptych, a three-year project created by the Capitolina Foundation in collaboration with the Puccini Festival of Torre del Lago. The project, conceived for the centenary (1924-2024) of the composer's death, provides for the subdivision of the Puccini triptych in three diptychs with different authors.

L'Heure espagnole is a musical comedy by Maurice Ravel with a libretto by Franc-Nohain, performed for the first time at the Théâtre national de l'Opéra-Comique in Paris in 1911. The work, which represents the Iberian part of Ravel's personality, evoking themes and sounds typical of its Basque origins, is a "love farce" with moralistic and satirical intentions, a fun parody of opera with well-drawn caricatural characters. It is a little gem of musical theater that is generally under-represented and for this reason it is a rare opportunity to be able to listen to it.

Gianni Schicchi is a one-act opera - which is part of the famous Puccini Triptych together with Suor Angelica and Tabarro - with a libretto by Giovacchino Forzano performed for the first time in New York in 1918 and based on an episode from Canto XXX of Inferno by Dante. The work tells how Gianni Schicchi, famous throughout Florence for his acute and perspicacious spirit, is summoned with great care by the relatives of Buoso Donati, a rich merchant who has just died, so that he can meditate on an ingenious plan to save them from an unpleasant situation: their In fact, his relative has bequeathed all his wealth to the nearby friary, excluding his relatives.

Orchestra of the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma; with the participation of the Dance School of the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma.

Photo credits: courtesy of the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma official site