Giacomo Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi

BACKGROUND

There is some debate over whether Giacomo Puccini or librettist Giovacchino Forzano had the idea of basing an opera on the brief passage of Dante’s Inferno describing the wily rogue who cheated the poet’s own relatives out of a considerable fortune. Forzano completed the libretto in June 1917, and Puccini began working on it immediately before setting it aside to finish Suor Angelica , which would become the second part of Il trittico.

Il trittico , the trio of short operas encompassing Il tabarro, Suor Angelica, and Gianni Schicchi , premiered at the Metropolitan Opera in 1918 to mixed reviews, with Gianni Schicchi the most well-received. Though usually present at all his premieres, Puccini did not attend. (The lingering presence of mines made the transatlantic journey dangerous so soon after the conclusion of World War I.) Thus, the Met’s General Manager Giulio Gatti-Casazza sent him a telegram following the performance: “Most happy to announce the complete authentic success of the Trittico . At the end of each opera long very sincere demonstrations more than forty warm curtain calls altogether. In spite of public notice forbidding encores by insistence Lauretta’s aria [“O mio babbino caro”] was repeated. Principal strength Moranzoni magnificent. Farrar Muzio Easton De Luca Montesanto Didur incomparable singers and actors. Daily press confirms success expressing itself very favourably on worth of the operas enthusiastically for Schicchi .”

Though Il trittico was performed in its entirety a few times, Suor Angelica and Il tabarro gradually faded into the background, while the more popular Gianni Schicchi , with memorable arias like “O mio babbino caro,” was billed with short operas by other composers, such as Cavalleria Rusticana or Pagliacci. It remains one of the masterpieces of Italian comedy.

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