As Falstaff to
Verdi, so Gianni Schicchi to
Puccini: his only comic opera. In this
case a mere 50 minutes and a single
simple plot or story line. The plot?
Buoso Donati deceased (a man of property)
left all to the monastery. Gianni Schicchi
(devious Del Boy) summoned to the death
bed, plots with the surviving relatives.
Impersonating the deceased, Schicchi
instructs the attorney. The will is
re-written leaving the most valuable
property to Schicchi. The relatives
cannot reveal the duplicity for fear
of exile at their own involvement. Although
not part of the plot, not all is self
motivation: the incidental outcome is
Schicchi’s ability to give his daughter
a dowry overcoming Buoso’s relatives
objection to her marrying their youngest
member.
Now that is a synopsis,
not the briefest but a synopsis nevertheless.
The so-called synopsis in the booklet
is in fact a detailed account of the
plot track by track. And it is that
detail which, together with Puccini’s
vividly descriptive music, overcomes
the absence of a libretto translation.
Apart from the lyrical
aria for Lauretta, O mio babbino
caro (Oh my beloved Father), you
will not hum successive melodies because
there are none. Insistent musical phrases,
phrase development, dramatic changes
of tempo there are a plenty. Pervading
all is the almost perfect inter-relationship
of words and music and action. Go and
read the score to appreciate the enormous
detail of stage directions which Puccini
gives. Mess about with those, modern
directors, at your peril. As an example
see the precise ages, set out above,
for each role. Although ‘doubled’ on
this recording for his 2 lines, even
the young Gherardino is specified by
Puccini as being seven years old and
a contralto.
The self-evident corollary
for an opera lasting less then fifty
minutes and with some six primary and
the same number of secondary roles,
is that there is no time for character
development. They each have their allotted
role and no more. Alberto Rinaldi is
a convincing Schicchi with quite excellent
vocal acting – and impersonation. When
lyricism is called for his touch is
sure. At times his tone is uneven but
any lack of refinement could be attributed
to his rural role ‘up from the country’.
A similar reservation
applies to Tatiana Lisnic’s Lauretta.
At full stretch she lacks that vocal
refinement that we have come to expect
from hearing other Lauretta’s. The frustrating
point is that when held in check she
can float a note which will delight
– as at the end of the aria.
Mabel Perelstein (a
name to conjure with - the booklet informing
us she "was born in Argentina but
has Spanish nationality) sings Zita
with an admirable deep, round, full
sound. Whilst there might be the occasional
question mark over the smoothness of
head to chest transfer (with some seriously
difficult leaps) she acts vocally very
well. We can follow easily her role,
which helps to keep the plot bubbling
along.
Stefano Secco’s Rinuccio
whilst clear of diction and accurate
of note fails to inspire. There is little
dynamic variation in his praise of Schicchi
or in his ‘Tuscan folk song’ Firenze
è come un albero fioroto.
Only in moments of high lyricism does
he convince.
The youthful Felipe
Bou sings the role of the seventy-year-old
Simone. Whilst his voice may well develop
the gravitas of age, it does not presently
reflect accurately the role of the elder
statesmen of the family. Of course the
problem for Bou is that his is a ‘straight’
role whilst the youthful Ruiz as the
Doctor and Zorilla as the Notary, can
sing in ‘disguised’ voices of doddering
ancients duped by the schemers. Ruiz’s
brief scene is finely convincing whilst
Zorilla plays his part in the will re-writing
scene to the full.
As the accompanying
notes say, the opera "…is notable
for its dependence on ensemble singing…".
I would add also the importance of the
orchestral role: for example in the
search for the will and the reading
of it.
Rahbari’s orchestral
pacing is excellent: now busy and bristling:
sometime reduced to a hesitant gait.
There is a live, crisp immediacy of
tone with some splendidly mellow string
playing. You can hear the relatives
scurryingly searching for the will;
and their later reading of it with expressive
phrase repetition as the extent of their
loss emerges.
Rahbari occasionally
lets the recording down when he allows
the orchestra to play too dominant a
role with the consequent inability to
follow / hear the voices. Both Rinaldi
and Secco are occasionally sunk almost
beyond trace. Brava la vecchia suffers
substantially the same fate – certainly
it prevented me from distinguishing
the words. Whilst the will rewriting
scene itself is balanced extremely well
the consequent fury of the relatives
is somewhat drowned.
Sara Galli and Claudia
Marchi, as Nella and Ciesca, balance
well vocally with Perelstein. The opening
scene with their successively heard
descending registers is very attractive
vocally. With no opportunity beyond
that of supporting roles, Lopez, Quijada
and Varela offer perfectly competent
performances each singing with other,
and different, cast members as the plot
develops.
Recorded at the Sala
Carranque there are one or two occasions
when the placing of a microphone (or
singer) appears not to be ideal. Curiously
there are a couple of occasions when
there is a suggestion of sound distortion.
As I said this is Puccini’s
only comic opera. It is the comic third
of Il trittico, contrasting with its
two tragic brethren. If you wish to
have a recording of this comedy only,
then go for it. Whilst not perfect,
there is much to enjoy – and at less
than £5 (or your super-budget price
equivalent) you really cannot go wrong.
Robert McKechnie
Málaga Symphony Orchestra/Alexander Rahbari
