Co-Opera. Burnside Ballroom. 17 Sep 2022
The storyline of Puccini’s short comic opera Gianni Schicchi – it comes in at around one-hour – is based on an episode from Inferno, the first part of Dante’s The Divine Comedy, and this production by Co-Opera is brim full of fun and fine singing.
Gianni Schicchi follows the machinations of members of the Florentine old-money Donati family as they whip themselves into a fury upon discovering that the estate of Buoso Donati, their recently deceased wealthy relative, has been bequeathed to the church and not to them. There is much wailing and gnashing of teeth, and very quickly Gianni Schicchi is called upon to attend the family and offer a ‘solution’. He suggests falsifying the will. This is a risky enterprise, and perpetrators will be punished by exile and amputation of the right hand if found out! Who is Schicchi? Well, he’s a brash and cunning chancer who is the father of the beautiful and virtuous Lauretta who is desperately in love with the fervent and handsome Rinuccio who is the nephew of covetous Zita who is one of Buoso’s cousins (phew!). It is Rinuccio who persuades the family to involve Schicchi hoping this will assist his fraught plans to marry Lauretta – fraught because she and her father move in an altogether different social circle to them.
Eventually it all backfires on the family and Schicchi double-crosses them out of the bulk of the estate. Needless to say, Rinuccio and Lauretta are united and Schicchi has the last say as he speaks directly to the audience and suggests that if the young couple were ever called upon to account for their involvement in the whole caper, the verdict would surely have to be ‘not guilty’!
Does it all sound delectably absurd, funny and imaginatively complicated? Well, yes it is, and arguably the whole opera draws heavily from the commedia dell'arte tradition, with Schicchi as the Harlequin, Lauretta as Columbine and the other relatives in various classic commedia roles. Director Stephanie Acraman understands this, draws it out through many fine performances, and has the audience laughing in stitches.
Gianni Schicchi isn’t a numbers piece – it is really only known for the beautiful aria O mio babbino caro sung by Lauretta, and even this emerges surprisingly (almost randomly) without a solid emotional build up. But let’s not allow that to stand in the way of the telling of a ripping yarn!
Co-Opera has assembled a terrific cast of experienced and emerging singers. In the title role, Nicholas Cannon exudes confidence, bravado, deceit and fox-like cunning, and his fine baritone-tenor voice was a highlight throughout the production. The audience reacted to him with laughter and delight as they would to the villain in a melodrama. Kudos to him and to Acraman.
Emerging artist Gianna Gutilla gives Lauretta a degree of innocence and her performance of O mio babbino caro is pleasing. Pianist Stephen van der Hoek provides a sensitive accompaniment and, importantly, gives her sufficient room to take the aria at a comfortable pace and dynamical trajectory.
Jiacheng Ding plays Rinuccio with youthful ardour. However, his final scene with Lauretta, in which they lovingly embrace, is perhaps a little overformal and lacking in the sort of passion you’d expect when two young lovers finally overcome the last hurdle. Acraman might have done well to employ the services of an intimacy director. That minor criticism aside, Ding’s tenor voice sang true and firm throughout the expanse of the venue. His performance of Avete torto! and Firenze è come un albero fiorito amply demonstrated his fine instrument and hushed the capacity audience, as did the love duet Lauretta mia, staremo sempre qui! he sings with Gutilla.
Meran Bow began a little hesitantly but quickly and firmly put her stamp on the role of Zita. The (necessarily) confined set didn’t always provide her with the room to take full flight! Bow is well experienced and understands that a role needs to be both acted and sung well. She succeeded in both.
Macintyre Howie-Reeves was excellent as Betto. He already has a fine tenor voice and it is getting better on every outing. It is easy to see him taking on more substantial roles in the future.
The cast is well rounded out with convincing performances from Brock Roberts (as Gherardo), Jessica Mills (Nella), Peter Dean (Simone), Oliver Vickers (Marco), and Bethany Eloise (La Ciesca). A special mention goes to Rachel McCall who plays three diverse roles – Gherardino, Spinelloccio and Amantio – with the latter two performed in true commedia-style!
Every performance venue provides its own challenges, and the art deco styled Burnside Ballroom is no exception. The stage is very small with no inbuilt theatrical lighting rig. Thankfully Gianni Schicchi only requires a single set in the form of a bedroom, but with a cast of eleven on stage and the trappings of a bedroom that screams wealth, space is at a premium and a little limiting at times, even with the addition of a small thrust stage. However, Acraman moves her cast efficiently around the available space and the action seems natural and unobtrusive in the main. The light is limited to a general wash with some attempts to underline the heighted emotions on stage with changes in hue, but these prove to be ineffectual.
There is no attempt to set the production in its original period Venetian setting, and costuming is generally contemporary. It works. Schicchi’s charlatan nature is heavily underlined by his grotesquely chequered blue, orange, black and white suit. It is just perfect! It screams used car salesman, and we all love to hate them!
Acraman milks the script for every laugh she can get, and the cast are up for it.
Mention was made above of Stephen van der Hoek’s excellent performance on piano. His solo performance of the entire orchestral piano reduction is a highlight of the production. Together with conductor Leanne Puttick, the cast is well served by sympathetic and competent musical accompaniment.
Gianni Schicchi is Co-Opera’s first production in two years. With the audience seated in cabaret-style enjoying bring-your-own picnic baskets at their tables, and without the bells and whistles available in grand purpose-built theatres, the recipe was not for grand opera, but it was. Co-Opera deserve our strong support!
Kym Clayton
When: Closed
Where: Burnside Ballroom
Bookings: Closed
