Puccini: Gianni Schicchi | Opera Spanga and Sinfonia Rotterdam (opera film, 2014)

It is a tale of love, greed and hypocrisy: Puccini’s most famous one-act opera, Gianni Schicchi, is presented here as an innovative opera film. Conceived and produced by Opera Spanga (led by Corina van Eijk) with music provided by the Sinfonia Rotterdam (under the baton of Conrad van Alphen), this production takes an unorthodox approach to the genre of opera, without compromising on musical quality. The combination of solid musical skill paired with refreshing originality makes for a captivating watch. Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924) composed Gianni Schicchi between 1917 and 1918. The opera tells the story of a cunning knight of the same name, a character who first appeared in the Inferno part of Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy and is believed to have been inspired by the real historical figure of Gianni Schicchi de’ Cavalcanti. Schicchi is a master of impersonation. When the wealthy Buoso Donati dies and leaves his fortune to the local monastery, his money-hungry family is in uproar. After a brawl between the Donati family – who look down on Schicchi due to his humble origins – Schicchi agrees to impersonate the deceased Donati in order to dictate a new will to the notary. The plan works since nobody except Donati’s immediate family knows of his death, but the two-faced Schicchi allocates most of the money to himself. In the end, the imposter has gained a fortune, while Donati’s hypocritical relatives are left with almost nothing. A special feature of this opera film is the casting of women in roles originally devised for men – most notably that of Rinuccio Schicchi, son of Gianni Schicchi. In van Eijk’s production of the opera, the soprano Francis van Broekhuizen (played in the film by Lynn Jansen) takes up this role, which is normally sung by a tenor – a brave stylistic choice which turns the romantic relationship between Rinuccio and Lauretta into one between two women. Rather than for his one-act comic operas which he composed towards the end of his career, Giacomo Puccini is best known for his three- and four-act operas, such as La bohème, Tosca and Madame Butterfly. Gianni Schicchi premiered at the Metropolitan Opera on 14 December 1918. The composer did not attend. At a glance: 00:00 Opening 18:08 Avete torto! (Rinuccia) 24:53 O mio babbino caro (Lauretta) 32:55 Ah, che zucconi! (Gianni Schicchi) 39:20 Trio: Spogliati, bambolino (Nella, La Ciesca, Zita) 54:48 Duet: Lauretta mia, staremo sempre qui! (Rinuccia, Lauretta) Roles: Gianni Schicchi: Peter Michailov Lauretta: Sandrine Buendia Zita: Klara Uleman Rinuccia: Lynn Jansen (voiced by: Francis van Broekhuizen) Gherardo: Wil van der Meer Nella: Francis van Broekhuizen Gherardina: Lotteline Kuijt Betto: Matthijs Mesdag Simone: Marcel van Dieren Marco: Mark Gough La Ciesca: Madieke Marjon Maestra Spinelloccia: Do van Stek (voiced by: Monique Krus) Notary Sinan Vural Nurse: Wivineke van Groningen Buoso Donati: Fred Turner Sinfonia Rotterdam Conrad van Alphen, conductor Corina van Eijk, director Watch more arias in our opera playlist: Subscribe to DW Classical Music: #giacomopuccini #operafilm #sinfoniarotterdam