Il Trittico in Full Score: Il Tabarro / Suor Angelica / Gianni Schicchi [Alf:06-293297]

Considered the greatest Italian opera composer since Verdi, Giacomo Puccini (1858--1924) created many of the most popular operas in the repertoire, including Madama Butterfly, La Boheme, Tosca, Manon Lescaut, and Turandot. His well-known gifts for lush melody and rapturous lyricism, along with his strong sense of theater, are amply evident in Il Trittico ("The Triptych"), a series of three highly individual one-act operas patterned after the Parisian Grand Guignol's three-part scheme of horror, tragedy, and farce. Il Trittico, which premiered at New York's Metropolitan Opera in 1918, consists of Il Tabarro, a somber, near-melodramatic tragedy; Suor Angelica," a sentimental tragedy with strong melodies and a mystic theme; and Gianni Schicchi," a delightful comedy, full of wit and vivacity, whose libretto was derived---surprisingly enough---from a few lines in Dante's Inferno. All three works appear in this single volume, reprinted from authoritative early editions.