0:00:19 > 0:00:22Welcome to the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden
0:00:22 > 0:00:25for this performance of Suor Angelica,
0:00:25 > 0:00:30the second opera in Puccini's Il Trittico, three one-act operas.
0:00:31 > 0:00:35It was Puccini's personal favourite in his triptych.
0:00:35 > 0:00:37It is a lyrical tragedy.
0:00:37 > 0:00:42It's intense, slow movement draws you in,
0:00:42 > 0:00:47but Puccini's waiting to overwhelm you emotionally.
0:00:54 > 0:00:58Our setting here is a catholic children's hospital run by nuns.
0:00:58 > 0:01:01Sister Angelica has been here for seven years
0:01:01 > 0:01:03and has become an expert herbalist,
0:01:03 > 0:01:05creating remedies for the sick children.
0:01:05 > 0:01:08She's laconic but much loved.
0:01:08 > 0:01:11Yet she's hiding a deep secret.
0:01:12 > 0:01:15She can feel something wrong or something not comfortable for her
0:01:15 > 0:01:19you know, is going around.
0:01:19 > 0:01:24It's the human drama, which... it's impossible, you know, to stay cold.
0:01:24 > 0:01:27It's bar seven, two bars before the chorus, and...
0:01:31 > 0:01:33I never sang this role before
0:01:33 > 0:01:37but I feel that I sang it for the whole of my life.
0:01:41 > 0:01:47I'm rehearsing every day, six hours, per day and still believe me,
0:01:47 > 0:01:50every rehearsal I finish, you know, crying.
0:01:58 > 0:02:02Dramatically, acting, it's really, really challenging.
0:02:02 > 0:02:05The whole machine, the vocal chords
0:02:05 > 0:02:08and the body has to be really relaxed to sing that aria.
0:02:13 > 0:02:17And to keep the control is really difficult,
0:02:17 > 0:02:19but sometimes you have to let it go
0:02:19 > 0:02:23because the public must believe that something real is happening,
0:02:23 > 0:02:26it's not just the singer is playing.
0:02:34 > 0:02:39I'm putting everything there and I'm thinking in my head
0:02:39 > 0:02:43it's like my first and last performance of my life.
0:02:43 > 0:02:47We start with a favourite device of Puccini,
0:02:47 > 0:02:50the sound of voices off stage.
0:02:50 > 0:02:53The chapel bell calls the nuns to prayer,
0:02:53 > 0:02:58we hear them singing in unison and the piccolo affecting a bird's song.
0:02:58 > 0:03:03He creates a simple, sweet and tender atmosphere,
0:03:03 > 0:03:06not forecasting the drama to come.
0:03:07 > 0:03:11CHURCH BELLS CHIME
0:09:15 > 0:09:17DOOR SLAMS
0:16:52 > 0:16:54LAUGHTER
0:22:17 > 0:22:20THEY LAUGH
0:23:36 > 0:23:38DOORBELL RINGS
0:24:53 > 0:24:56Suor Angelica.
0:39:27 > 0:39:30SHE WAILS
0:39:34 > 0:39:36SHE SOBS
0:39:38 > 0:39:40SHE WEEPS BITTERLY
0:48:19 > 0:48:21KNOCKING
0:56:04 > 0:56:06SHE COUGHS
0:58:24 > 0:58:27APPLAUSE
0:58:38 > 0:58:41APPLAUSE
0:58:52 > 0:58:55APPLAUSE
0:58:55 > 0:58:58The tragic and emotionally powerful conclusion to Suor Angelica,
0:58:58 > 0:59:01Puccini's favourite opera of his Triptych.
0:59:01 > 0:59:02And mine.
0:59:02 > 0:59:07In the third and final opera, the mood changes completely to comedy,
0:59:07 > 0:59:11as a family squabbles over a will in the much-loved
0:59:11 > 0:59:14but oh-so-cruel Gianni Schicchi.
0:59:14 > 0:59:16So join me, Antonio Pappano, once again
0:59:16 > 0:59:19at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden.
0:59:26 > 0:59:29Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd