By Alexandra Kozlova
This past Friday, I had the pleasure of attending Giacomo Puccini’s amazing collection of one-act operas, Il Trittico, put on by the Welsh National Opera at New Theater, Oxford thanks to That Oxford Girl. Boasting a wide variety of eras and settings—from Florence in the 1200s to a barge on the Seine in 1910—as well as vastly different genres—tragedy to dark comedy—the set of operas is sure to please any audience member no matter their personal tastes.
Il Tabarro, the first act, is a tragic love triangle where a wife finds herself in an illicit affair with her husband’s employee. It is a beautiful yet crushing opera, with an astonishing performance from Natalya Romaniw, who plays the infatuated and sorrowful Giorgetta. Her vocal performance was magnificent, and was only emphasized by her acting when it came to her second-act role as Sister Angelica in Suor Angelica. In Suor Angelica, known as Puccini’s personal favorite opera, a princess turned nun struggles with her role at the convent and her abandonment by her royal family. Sister Angelica is then exposed to the dreadful truth about her illegitimate son, at which point Romaniw delivers a heart breaking performance of ‘Senza Mamma.’
While Romaniw dominated both of the first acts, the entirety of the cast, as well as the orchestra, delivered phenomenal performances. I personally really enjoyed Yvonne Howard’s performance as La Suora Infermiera in Suor Angelica as well as Mark LeBrocq’s hilarious version of Tinca in Il Tabarro.
As incredible as the first two operas were, the third and final act was undoubtedly the best. The WNO’s take on Gianni Schicchi had a very detailed set and an amazing set of actors. The play follows a greedy bunch of family members who, learning that their deceased and greatly wealthy relative has passed without leaving any of them a single cent, immediately begin scheming to figure out a way to ensure the money is left to them. What I found most striking about the W.N.O.’s production of Gianni Schicchi was the physical comedy. Every actor embodied their character perfectly and they all were able to work together to capture the priceless chaos of the Donati family.
Of course, Puccini’s famous “O Mio Babbino Caro” took the cake in the entirety of the production, sung beautifully by Haegee Lee as Lauretta Schicchi. This is one of Puccini’s most renowned pieces, and for good reason! In this part of the opera, Lauretta is begging her father to help the Donati family despite the fact that he vehemently hates them. She does this out of her love for Rinuccio Donati, which is how she justifies her father’s necessity to aid the Donatis. However, as someone who had frequently listened to this aria, I was shocked to discover how unserious the lyrics were, as beautifully as they’re composed. The line ‘I like him, he is so handsome’ in particular made me and my guest let out a giggle as it was so juvenile. Lee and her castmate Trystan Llŷr Griffiths really leaned into the playful love between Lauretta and Rinuccio, adding another layer to the carefully crafted comedy in Gianni Schinni.
Overall, I was greatly impressed by the W.N.O.’s take on all three operas, and the production wasn’t lacking for a single second of the nearly three hours that I was seated. Insanely good performances, fantastic orchestra, and wonderful acting all around.
Check out more incredible performances coming soon to New Theatre Oxford here !
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