Puccini Il tabarro opera to a libretto by Giuseppe Adami. Directed 2019 by Denis Krief at the Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino. Stars Franco Vassallo (Michele); Angelo Villari (Luigi); Antonio Garés (Il “Tinca”); Eugenio Di Lieto (Il “Talpa”); Maria José Siri (Giorgetta); Anna Maria Chiuri (La Frugola); Dave Monaco (Song Peddler); Thalida Fogarasi and Leonardo Sgroi (Two Offstage Voices); Costanza Fontana and Claudio Zazzaro (Two Lovers); Maria Cristina Bisogni, Cristina Pagliai; Sarina Rausa, Elena Bazzo, Elisabetta Ermini, and Delia Palmieri (Midinettes), and Fabrizio Casagrande (Extra). Valerio Galli conducts the Ochestra e Coro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino (Chorus Master Lorenzo Fratini). Set, costume, and lighting design by Denis Krief. Directed for TV by Tiziano Mancini; video editing by Metis; sound by MASClassica Audio Recording with Claudio Speranzini and Antonio Martino. Sung in Italian. Released 2020, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: D
This is the first of the 3 operas in Puccini’s Il trittico—3 one-act operas that Pucinni always wanted presented together (Il tabarro, Suor Angelica, and Gianni Schicchi ). Dynamic has taken the rather audacious step of trying to sell each of these 3 short 1-act operas in separate packages, each at regular list price. It gets worse. Mark Pullinger, writing in the October 2020 Gramophone, pages 79-80, laments what he calls the sad state of affairs at the Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, where organizational and financial difficulties have required management to cut through the bone to reduce costs. That explains why Denis Krief serves as director and also as set, costume, and lighting designer for this Il tabarro and also the Suor Angelica and Gianni schicchi made at same time. It gets worse. Pullinger suggests Krief uses the same cheap-looking set for each of the three shows with slight modifications. Pullinger does give the house orchestra some praise and thanks the cast for “good, honest” singing even if their acting is stilted.
In the Gramophone Awards 2020 issue at page 100, Pullinger also reports further on the Denis Krief Suor Angelica and Gianni schicchi productions mentioned above and the idea of offering 3 separate titles at 3 times the price of the competition. “Daylight robbery” is his conclusion (never thought I’d see something this blunt from a print critic). Based on the 3X asking price and Pullinger’s comments, we are giving a D grade for now to all three of these short titles from Dynamic. The D grade means, “Don’t buy this unless you have a special reason.” If someone can explain why any ordinary opera lover would want to buy any of these titles, we will reconsider the grade.
Here’s a trailer from Dynamic:
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