Il Tabarro Puccini's Il Trittico

Hello, and welcome to the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden,

where we're performing Puccini's Il trittico

for the first time in almost half a century.

Il trittico is made up of three short, one-act operas,

the first of which we are showing tonight.

It was Puccini's idea to do a musical version of the classic

triptych from fine art, where three painted panels told contrasting,

yet complimentary, stories.

Puccini's panels tell tales of murder, suicide and farce,

where the overriding theme is deception.

The first opera in the trilogy is Il tabarro.

Puccini wrote it in later life, in 1916.

He called this opera his "tragic panel."

The setting is a barge on the River Seine,

on an oppressively hot summer's evening,

when the hard work of the day is almost over.

It's a dark, passionate, troubling opera,

with a love triangle at its core.

Michele is a man of 50 years old, is the boss of this boat,

and he is married with Giorgetta,

a young lady of 25 years old,

who falls in love with a young docker, Luigi.

The problems come one year earlier, when they lose the child.

Losing a child is one of the worst things that can happen to you,

and everything about Michele reminds her of her pain.

They both have a different way of dealing with the grief,

and I think she is, sort of, going into escapism,

where she finds, tries to, you know,

find a passionate love affair, just to put a lid on her grief.

Luigi, he really loves Giorgetta,

but...

the loneliness is the reason of the problems.

He is alone, she is married,

but she feels alone.

You can watch in the eyes of Michele that he is losing everything.

First of all, Giorgetta's love, but he tries to bring her back,

to remind her how they were happy one year before.

Puccini was influenced by Debussy and Impressionism,

and you can hear the product of his extensive research in Paris

in the opening music.

It's hazy, you hear the sound of a tugboat, car horns,

short repetitive phrases, the sound of water in movement.

He's painting in sound.

Murky, mood-setting music showing the grind of the day,

and the downtrodden lives of the workers.

APPLAUSE

Betrayal and then murderous revenge. The climax of Il tabarro.

The cloak reveals its dark secret.

It captivated the audience in 1918,

at its world premiere

at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York.

The next opera in Puccini's triptych

is the heart-wrenching tale of a young lady

shamed and sent away to be a nun - Suor Angelica.

So, do join me, Antonio Pappano,

once again at the Royal Opera House, in Covent Garden.

CHEERS AND APPLAUSE

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd