[Met Performance] CID:244060
Il Trittico {19}
Il Tabarro {23}
Suor Angelica {19}
Gianni Schicchi {83} Metropolitan Opera House: 01/26/1976.
(Review)
Metropolitan Opera House
January 26, 1976
IL TRITTICO {19}
IL TABARRO {23}
Giorgetta...............Renata Scotto
Luigi...................Harry Theyard
Michele.................Cornell MacNeil
Frugola.................Lili Chookasian
Talpa...................Philip Booth
Tinca...................Charles Anthony
Song Seller.............Jon Garrison
Lover...................Betsy Norden
Lover...................Douglas Ahlstedt
Conductor...............Sixten Ehrling
SUOR ANGELICA {19}
Angelica................Renata Scotto
Princess................Lili Chookasian
Genovieffa..............Betsy Norden
Osmina..................Mary Fercana
Dolcina.................Elizabeth Anguish
Monitor.................Marcia Baldwin
Abbess..................Jean Kraft
Head Mistress...........Batyah Godfrey Ben-David
Nurse...................Cynthia Munzer
Lay Sister..............Maureen Smith
Lay Sister..............Joyce Olson
Novice..................Linda Mays
Novice..................Shinja Kwak
Alms Collector..........Alma Jean Smith
Alms Collector..........Elena Doria
Conductor...............Sixten Ehrling
GIANNI SCHICCHI {83}
Gianni Schicchi.........Frank Guarrera
Lauretta................Renata Scotto
Rinuccio................Raymond Gibbs
Nella...................Betsy Norden
Ciesca..................Marcia Baldwin
Zita....................Lili Chookasian
Gherardo................Charles Anthony
Betto...................Russell Christopher
Marco...................Gene Boucher
Simone..................Raymond Michalski
Gherardino..............Lawrence Klein
Spinelloccio............Richard Best
Amantio.................Andrij Dobriansky
Pinellino...............Herman Marcus
Guccio..................Edmond Karlsrud
Buoso Donati............Terry Allen
Conductor...............Sixten Ehrling
Review by Raymond Ericson in The New York Times:
Opera: Versatile Scotto
The three heroines of Puccini's "Il Trittico" are not usually sung by the same soprano, but they were all taken by Renata Scotto on Thursday night in the Metropolitan seventh presentation of the trilogy this season. Since she is one of the finest Puccini interpreters around, the evening was something of a triumph for her as well as giving the production, largely new, a special glow. The problem in this kind of multiple casting is characterization. The vocal demends, technically speaking, are pretty much the same
from opera to opera, but the singing itself and the acting require quite different attacks. Giorgetta, the restless bargemaster's wife in "Il Tabarro"; the tortured, suicidal Sister Angelica, and the young, in-love Lauretta in "Gianni Schicchi" have nothing in common except the intensity of their emotional expression.
Miss Scotto's singing was full of the detail that gradually built her characterization: passionate as Giorgetta, despairing as Angelica and utterly charming as Lauretta. Her ability to take Lauretta's famous, almost hackneyed, aria, "0 mio babbino caro" and turn it into a fresh experience was magical, and it largely stemmed from her thorough use of the music as a dramatic device - a seductive, playful plea to her father.
As an actress, she was not wholly succesful in suggesting Giorgetta's youthful discontent, and she did not look right - she is very short - in a veristic opera where that matters. But as a poignant Angelica and a girlish Lauretta, she was perfect.