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Rating: 
Summary: What production were you guys watching?!
Review: Based on the other reviews here, I purchased this but was very disappointed. Suor Angelica is my favorite of these three, and it was OK (not great), but Rosalind Plowright is NOT the ideal Angelica: VERY short on top (sounds like a mezzo, and Angelica needs a solid C) and one dynamic - LOUD.Gianni Schicchi was just embarassing. None of the singers were good (the young tenor was OK but, again, just LOUD all the time) and the acting was execrable. I've done this show a couple of times myself, so know where the humor should be, etc., and there was just. . .NOTHING. You'd think with Italian singers (this was recorded at La Scala, by the way) singing in Italian, the humor would come through loud and clear, but they might as well have been singing Swahili (and not understanding a word of it!). A clear disppointment to me - I'm glad to finally have a video of Trittico, but it could have been SO much better.
Rating:
Summary: What production were you guys watching?!
Review: Based on the other reviews here, I purchased this but was very disappointed. Suor Angelica is my favorite of these three, and it was OK (not great), but Rosalind Plowright is NOT the ideal Angelica: VERY short on top (sounds like a mezzo, and Angelica needs a solid C) and one dynamic - LOUD. Gianni Schicchi was just embarassing. None of the singers were good (the young tenor was OK but, again, just LOUD all the time) and the acting was execrable. I've done this show a couple of times myself, so know where the humor should be, etc., and there was just. . .NOTHING. You'd think with Italian singers (this was recorded at La Scala, by the way) singing in Italian, the humor would come through loud and clear, but they might as well have been singing Swahili (and not understanding a word of it!). A clear disppointment to me - I'm glad to finally have a video of Trittico, but it could have been SO much better.
Rating: 
Summary: sour angelica
Review: I actually bought this dvd for Sour Angelica, especially for Plowright. I only knew famous excerpts of other two operas. I don't agree with the view that Plowright was miscasted. I'm her admirer since her La Forza recording and now have seen her stage performance. As for Gianni Schichi and Il Tabarro, Juan Pons and Cappucilli were on their peak.
Rating:
Summary: Bravi!
Review: I agree almost completely with JWALKER019. This ugle 1983 production looks like it was from the 1950's and Gianni S. is downright embarrassing. The costuming there makes everyone look absurd. Tabarro has little passion most of the time but the singing is good. Angelica is okay but it is not a part for Plowright and I definitely did not like Dunja Vejzovic as the Princess. It is great to have this opera on DVD but otherwise it was a big disappointment. No goosebumps here. I just finished watching my old tape from 1981 of the Met broadcast with Scotto in all three of the 1 acters. What a delight -- some weak points here and there but it has passion in spades and that's what these need. Scotto was incredible in Suor Angelica. We should be so lucky to have these performances released on DVD but that is highly unlikely. I've given this La Scala DVD 2 stars but that is probably being generous.
Rating:
Summary: Ditto JWALKER - What were you guys watching?
Review: I agree almost completely with JWALKER019. This ugle 1983 production looks like it was from the 1950's and Gianni S. is downright embarrassing. The costuming there makes everyone look absurd. Tabarro has little passion most of the time but the singing is good. Angelica is okay but it is not a part for Plowright and I definitely did not like Dunja Vejzovic as the Princess. It is great to have this opera on DVD but otherwise it was a big disappointment. No goosebumps here. I just finished watching my old tape from 1981 of the Met broadcast with Scotto in all three of the 1 acters. What a delight -- some weak points here and there but it has passion in spades and that's what these need. Scotto was incredible in Suor Angelica. We should be so lucky to have these performances released on DVD but that is highly unlikely. I've given this La Scala DVD 2 stars but that is probably being generous.
Rating: 
Summary: A Wonderful Gianni Schicci!
Review: I don't much care for Il Tabarro in general and have no great attachment Suor Angelica, but both were sung, acted and staged quite well. I love Gianni Schicci, though, and it was truly wonderful!
In the entire production there were only two things I didn't like. First, the murder scene at the end of Il Tabarro was a bit unconvincing, but I do not know what they could have done to make it better. The sight of a man singing while he is being strangled will always be a trifle unbelievable. My second problem was the costume the tenor in Gianni Schicci was wearing. It was very ugly and very effeminate.
However, both of these were relitivly minor problems and detracted hardly at all from my over all enjoyment.
Rating: 
Summary: YES and NO
Review: I have always loved this threesome, though I also consider Schicchi the weakest of all Puccini works. It is great to have it available to see as well as to listen to. After many years of singing opera for a living, I know that I may tend to be a little "jaded". So, as brief as possible: the singing in these performances is really quite good and I will not try to compare with so many better on audio only! That said: The real drawback of this is the staging and acting - did I say act and opera in the same sentence? Tabarro goes along fine until the "murder and revelation". It makes "opera" look as stilted as we know it can be. I know only too well how difficult it is to sing high C and attempt to act, but this was filmed. Sour Angelica - beautifully sung, even if Plowright has a "different" voice for this role and lacks the top notes requied. I simply do not know what that visual ending was suppose to be. I watched this DVD, for the first time, with a novice who had gotten the full build-up from me: only to be befuddled at the end. Sometimes I think that the old fashioned ,statue turns revealing "live" Madonna and a child, is better, not high tech, but effective. This DVD is worth buying because it is the only way to hear and see these works that no longer seem to be in favor and to show others that there is more to the Trittico than just "O mia Babino caro"!
Rating:
Summary: Only Suor Angelica
Review: I've had recordings of these operas (first on LP, now on CD, never mind the singers) for many years. I loved Tabarro (on CD), kind of liked Angelica and always hated the music but loved the story of Schicchi. Seeing them performed, I could tell I was in the hands of a master (Puccini), but I didn't like them anyway. The one I preferred and with reservations was Angelica, I thought everyone did an excellent job (note: the princess looked as grim during her curtain calls as she did during her performance!), but I greatly disliked the special effects ending and if I hadn't already known the story, I doubt I would have understood it, did the audience at La Scala see what I did? Tabarro was terrible, the beautiful music didn't start until the lovers got together, the first half hour or so was extraneous filler and not much fun to listen to (however I was tired and kept dozing off, so maybe I should give it a second chance). Schicchi, which has both the best (yup, that famous tune, which is the best tune in the entire three hours) and the worst music of the three, was played nonsensically, like the horseplay of the three non-dancing step-sisters in Prokofiev's Cinderella. It was comical and the dialogue was absurd, but the whole thing was done as a total farce and I think the story is more sophisticated than all that. Although I didn't think much of the whole thing, I did enjoy Angelica very much (I'm an Atheist and thought the rules and beliefs of these people were silly and (consider the plot) crippling), I thought the music this time through was more beautiful than I've ever heard it. Of course I loved the river theme in Tabarro, and like I said, once the story started, Puccini came into his own. Finally (since I seem to be trashing the whole thing anyway, and I do wish I could get my money back on this DVD), I thought the acting in all three operas was very mediocre and watery. By the way, Puccini is quoted as saying sometime around the opening of this show, "I was bored, and I'm the author." I watched one opera a day and did not get bored.
Rating:
Summary: Bravi!
Review: Il Trittico di Puccini is a delight! IL TABARRO, though not a favorite of this opera devotee, is very well done here. I'm sure Puccini would be pleased with the acting and singing, especially of Cappuccilli and Sass. If there is a disappointment with the trio of little operas, it is Rosalind Plowright as SUOR ANGELICA. This is not a role for the usually splendid Plowright. It was quite a surprise to hear her take alternative low notes to the scored high ones, especially following the dramatic "Senza Mama, Bimbo." One expects to hear high Cs and D flats to be sung as written. The costumer is also faulted for a very sloppy headdress! That is inexculable! The compensation might be that the on-screen translation is quite good. GIANNI SCHICCHI is great fun! Juan Pons shone in the title role as the conniving Gianni! Surprising was the clever performance of dramatic mezzo-soprano Eleanora Jankovic Always to be counted on is the fine musicianship and understanding of Maestro Gianandrea Gavazzeni. Superior performances are part and parcel of the Chorus and Orchestrs of La Scala, Milano. They did not let any of us down with these three. Directing opera for Video requires an extraordinary talent! Brian Large has learned that craft well! For those who rate these three so low, the same who have given bad reviews to other great performances, I cannot help but wonder if theirs is a faulty piece of equipment. No reviewer worth his salt expects to gain total agreement. However, no one wants his artistic tastes to be demeaned. G.K. Brown, DMA Prof. of Music (Ret.)
Rating:
Summary: Great acting, singing, production...
Review: This is a beautiful production of Puccini's trio of short, one-act operas. Most underrated, and most impressive here, is the first piece, IL TABARRO, starring Piero Cappuccilli and legendary soprano/actress Sylvia Sass, both of whom perform with a high level of intensity, passion, tenderness and complexity. The music is gorgeous and fascinating, with some wonderful duets that come organically out of the story. Watch how the light gradually gets dimmer and dimmer as the opera progresses and as the story gets darker and darker.
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