Il tabarro
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Il tabarro (The Cloak) is an opera in one act by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Giuseppe Adami, based on Didier Gold's La Houppelande. It is the first act of Il trittico. First performance: Metropolitan Opera, New York City, 1918.
[edit] Roles
| Premiere, December 14, 1918 (Roberto Moranzoni) |
||
|---|---|---|
| Michele, a barge-owner (aged 50) | baritone | Luigi Montesanto |
| Giorgetta, Michele's wife (aged 25) | soprano | Claudia Muzio |
| Luigi, a stevedore (aged 20) | tenor | Giulio Crimi |
| 'Tinca' ('tench'), a stevedore (aged 35) | tenor | Angelo Bada |
| 'Talpa' ('mole'), a stevedore (aged 50 | bass | Adam Didur |
| La Frugola ('the rummager'), Talpa's wife (aged 50) | mezzo-soprano | Alice Gentle |
| Stevedores, a ballad-seller, midinettes, an organ-grinder, two lovers | ||
[edit] Noted arias
- "Hai ben ragione" (Luigi)
- "Nulla, silenzio" (Michele)
[edit] Plot
- Place: A barge on the Seine.
- Time: 1910.
While the stevedores work unloading the barge, Michele wonders if his wife Giorgetta is still faithful. She serves wine to the workers, and they dance to the music of an organ grinder. Frugola enters, looking for her husband. She shows everyone the fruits of her shopping in Paris and scolds the men for their drinking. Luigi laments his lot in life. He remembers with Giorgetta their old neighborhood. Michele refuses to take Luigi to Rouen. Luigi arranges a secret rendez-vous with his lover Giorgetta before leaving. Michele reminisces with Giorgetta of the days before their child died, how all three would fit under his cloak. He knows she is straying, but wants to win her back. Luigi, thinking that Michele's lit pipe is Giorgetta's signal, returns to the barge and is confronted by Michele. Michele forces Luigi to confess his affair, then kills him, hiding the body under his cloak. When Giorgetta returns, she opens wide the cloak, revealing her dead lover.
