Il trittico
Puccini
Three stories, three settings, three marvellous soundscapes
October 2019
Il trittico has been called Puccini’s greatest achievement. The last opera he completed, it is rarely performed in its entirety. When all three of its one-act operas are staged together, the experience is an emotional roller-coaster ride through everything opera can be.
Pacific Opera is thrilled to have presented the first Canadian production of this masterpiece in nearly 50 years.
Three operas … one mind-blowing work
- Il tabarro (The Cloak)
A noir thriller of infidelity and suspicion. Over the course of a single night, a marriage comes to a brutal end. - Suor Angelica (Sister Angelica)
A lyric tragedy. In the confines of a convent, where all desire is considered a sin, a nun with a devastating secret struggles with anguish and guilt. - Gianni Schicchi
A wicked black comedy. A family squabbling over an inheritance get their comeuppance in this zany tale of greed and skullduggery.
Keynotes
Your key to Il trittico, and much more …
- Read articles from the Keynotes Newsletter and Programme Notes from the Artistic Director and Stage Director
- Discover the stories, the music, and the inspiration behind this monumental work
- Find out more about the only other Canadian production of Il trittico
Download PDF of the Keynotes Newsletter with articles and information on the creative team and cast.
Artists
Creative Team
- Conductor: Timothy Vernon
- Director: Glynis Leyshon
- Set and Costume Designer: Pam Johnson
- Assistant Set and Costume Designer: Hannah Case
- Lighting Designer: Michael Walton
- Choreographer / Fight Director: Jacques Lemay
- Sound Designer: Brooke Maxwell
- Chorus Master / Associate Conductor: Giuseppe Pietraroia
- Répétiteur: Louise-Andrée Baril
- Stage Manager: Christopher Sibbald
- Assistant Stage Managers: Katerina Sokyrko, Jordan Guetter
- Apprentice Stage Manager: Becca Jorgensen
Cast
Il tabarro (The Cloak)
- Michele, a barge owner: Todd Thomas
- Giorgetta, Michele’s wife: Aviva Fortunata
- Luigi, a stevedore: Adam Luther
- Tinca, a stevedore: Owen McCausland
- Talpa, a stevedore: Thomas Goerz
- La Frugola, Talpa’s wife: Megan Latham
- Song Vendor: Jan van der Hooft
- Soprano: Chelsea Kutyn
- Tenor: Kieran Foss
- Young Couple: Caitlin Wood, Taylor Fawcett
- Chorus of stevedores and shopgirls
Suor Angelica (Sister Angelica)
- Suor Angelica: Aviva Fortunata
- Suor Genevieve: Lara Ciekiewicz
- The Princess, Angelica’s aunt: Megan Latham
- Abbess / Mistress of the Novices: Marion Newman
- The Monitor: Maria Soulis
- Alms Sister: Caitlin Wood
- Lay Sisters: Kyla Fradette and Rebekah Janzen
- Suor Osmina: Cheryl Pocklington
- Novices: Allison Ward and Emlyn Sheeley
- Suor Dolcina: Chelsea Kutyn
- Alms Sister: Ai Horton
- Vision: Evelyn Hawes
- Child: Max Webster
- Offstage Choir
Gianni Schicchi
- Gianni Schicchi: Todd Thomas
- Lauretta, Schicchi’s daughter: Lara Ciekiewicz
- Zita, Buoso’s cousin: Megan Latham
- Rinuccio, Zita’s nephew: Owen McCausland
- Gherardo, Buoso’s nephew: Adam Luther
- Nella, Gherardo’s wife: Aviva Fortunata
- Simone, Buoso’s cousin: Thomas Goerz
- Marco, Simone’s son: Jason Cook
- La Ciesca, Marco’s wife: Maria Soulis
- Betto, Buoso’s brother-in-law: Peter Monaghan
- Gherardino, Nella and Gherardo’s young son: Oscar Webster, Kai Lawrence
- Spinelloccio, a doctor: Jan van der Hooft
- Ser Amantio di Nicolao, a Notary: Geoffrey Schellenberg
- Pinellino, a cobbler: Dale Friesen
- Guccio, a dyer: Louis Dillon
With the Victoria Symphony and the Pacific Opera Chorus
Media
Opera Canada Review
Review by Robin Miller for Opera Canada Magazine
Pacific Opera Victoria has a reputation for taking on operas that larger companies avoid, often for good reason. However, based on the company’s brilliant production of Puccini’s Il trittico … those larger companies need to rethink their programming. Yes, it’s an oddity: three one-act operas set in different times and places, with no obvious musical or thematic connection … Yet each, done as radiantly as they were in Victoria, can stand up against the best of Puccini’s full-length crowd-pleasers…
Huge credit must go to director Glynis Leyshon and set and costume designer Pam Johnson …
Even more credit has to go to a cast willing to learn multiple roles that they may never sing again – Il trittico has not been performed in Canada in 50 years, and may not be again any time soon. By singing in at least two, and in some cases three, of the operas, the cast made this masterpiece both affordable to mount and a perfect showcase for their own considerable talents…
By combining great direction and design along with some really superb singing and an orchestra at the top of its game under Artistic Director Timothy Vernon – POV created what might be the best thing it has ever done. At least so far.
“Incredibly Clever” Trittico Onstage in Victoria
Review by Melissa Ratcliff for Schmopera
In an incredibly clever conceit by director Glynis Leyshon, all the operas are linked… The barge in Tabarro is docked right next to the convent hospital where Suor takes place, and the patients in the hospital are entertained by a troupe of commedia performers with a play-within-a-play version of Gianni Schicchi, with the actors interacting with the hospital patients, and even with the conductor. It’s a brilliant idea….
A great 3-in-1 production with something to offer for everyone.
Revival of Il Trittico is superb
Review by Adrian Chamberlain for the Times Colonist
Puccini’s Il Trittico seemingly has it all: a jealous murderous husband, a crazed suicidal nun and gut-busting Marx Brothers-style laughs.
Overall, it’s a delicious dog’s breakfast of operatic excess and, in the hands of Pacific Opera Victoria, a superb evening that cannot be missed…
Pam Johnson’s imaginative and detailed set design and costumes are nothing short of brilliant…
Under Timothy Vernon’s baton, the Victoria Symphony nimbly navigated a cornucopia of musical styles with sensitivity and attention to dynamics. And Leyshon’s bold directorial approach — intelligent, lively, unceasingly entertaining — is a testament to her considerable talent.
Theatre Review – Pacific Opera Victoria presents Puccini’s Il Trittico.
Monica Prendergast reviews Il trittico for CBC Radio’s On The Island with Gregor Craigie
For opera singers … having the chance to do Il trittico where … they’re playing such different roles … how fabulous – literally a once in a lifetime opportunity…
Opera … is in many ways the highest performing art … bring your tissues because I find myself moved to tears very often with Puccini, his gorgeous melodies and the gorgeous singing that all the core ensemble provide, and the chorus…
This is a once-in-a lifetime event. I loved the show, and the audience that was there with me … loved the show.
Ouvrage lyrique de Puccini présenté à Victoria
Tragédie, comédie et thriller se rejoignent dans Il trittico de Giacomo Puccini. Jacques Dufresne interviews soprano Lara Ciekiewicz on Ici Radio-Canada.
Pacific Opera Victoria tackles ‘Everest’ that is Il Trittico
Mike Devlin of the Times Colonist interviews Director Glynis Leyshon and baritone Todd Thomas: It is so rarely done, except by very large companies … This is [Mount] Everest.
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Glynis Leyshon on Il trittico—Tackling Puccini’s Trio
Martin Molpeceres of Opera Canada interviews Glynis Leyshon on the challenges of drawing the three operas of Il trittico into a cohesive mosaic: It was staggering … I had never really given a lot of thought … about … putting such wildly different stories together.
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