Short, quaint and profoundly human

Puccini's genius for writing operas that are precise yet rich in theatrical details will be in evidence next week when Opera Hong Kong presents a double bill of Gianni Schicchi and Suor Angelica, says Peter Gordon.

A dead patriarch. Family squabbles over inheritance. Will-tampering. Snobbery. Prejudice against new immigrants from across the town line. Hong Kong? No, this is Florence in 1298.

Gianni Schicchi was Italian composer Giacomo Puccini's only attempt to write a comic opera. Local audiences will get a rare chance to see the brilliant result when Opera Hong Kong's semi-staged production - where the orchestra appears on stage with the singer-actors - debuts next Friday.

Gianni Schicchi tells a Florentine story, just hinted at in Dante Alighieri's La Divina Commedia, of the eponymous clever con man who engages in inheritance fraud and exploits family greed to line his own pockets. A family making a fool of itself, squabbling over an inheritance (with the deceased lying in full view!) should ring more than a few bells in Hong Kong, as should - on a more serious vein - the prejudice displayed against a recent immigrant from beyond the city limits.

Then Gianni Schicchi is also a story of young love. Lauretta's aria, O mio babbino caro - in which she solicits her father's help with doctoring the will so that her fianc Rinuccio can afford to marry her - is one of Italian opera's most recognizable compositions, not least because it features as background music in advertisements for luxury goods! (The aria admittedly does mention shopping.)

Gianni Schicchi happened to be a real-life person living in 13th-century Florence. In contemporary productions, however, the setting of the story is usually brought closer to the present day. Award-winning director Shen Liang, has transported the Opera Hong Kong production to early 20th-century Shanghai. She says that "The best performance to bring to the audience is the one with which they're able to fully engage their emotions and mind."

Playing in real time

The other Puccini one-act opera in Opera Hong Kong's pairing could hardly be more different. Suor Angelica is an exploration of despair and salvation. Together with the sober Il Tabarro, they form Il Trittico, the three one-act operas that debuted together in December 1918, soon after the dark days of World War I. Interestingly enough the show had opened, not in Puccini's native Italy but at the Metropolitan Opera in New York (who raised ticket prices from $6 to $7 for the occasion).

In Suor Angelica, Puccini returns to one of the themes explored in Madama Butterfly, that of the anguish of a young mother forced to give up her child. The opera takes place in a convent, with the music masterfully evoking everything from bells to birds. Angelica's calm belies a heart-wrenching secret: an illegitimate child torn from her at birth. After seven years as a nun, she receives her first visit from her aunt, the principessa, who forces her to sign away her inheritance in favor of her younger sister who is going about these things properly by getting married first. The principessa brusquely announces that Angelica's child had died of illness. In her despair, Angelica turns to her flowers, previously deployed for healing, to concoct a poison, so that she may consume it and join her son. Suicide, she remembers in a moment of lucidity, is a mortal sin. Her pleas for forgiveness, ignored by those on Earth who should have heeded them, are heard in Heaven, or at least so we are led to hope.

The setting of Suor Angelica too has been brought forward from the 17th century, where it originally belonged. Director Shen believes the audiences will likely take away numerous insights from watching the show. "Is the death in Suor Angelica really a tragedy?," she asks. "Or does she achieve a long-awaited freedom through death?"

However different, both operas showcase Puccini's mastery of music and emotion as well as his innate sense of theatre. Both are intimate, focused, condensed and profoundly human, unrolling in real time as we watch. And both are about discovering our basic humanity in the face of spite and prejudice: one succeeds by generating laughter and meting out punishment, the other ends in tears and salvation for the protagonist.

Shen says she wishes "to highlight the omnipresence of monsters of greed, to shine light on the monsters lurking in the dark around us. While it is crucial to enjoy a piece of art," she says "one must read beyond what is presented on stage and see reflections of it in our real lives."

Showcasing local talent

Opera Hong Kong's upcoming summer production of Suor Angelica and Gianni Schicchi is meant as a vehicle to showcase local operatic talent. Louise Kwong, who takes turns singing Suor Angelica with Li Yang, played Madama Butterfly with huge aplomb last year and also excelled as Michaela in Carmen. Carol Lin, a veteran of the Hong Kong operatic stage, takes on the dramatic role of Angelica's nemesis and aunt.

Several of the performers - including both Laurettas, Colette Lam and Alison Lau, and Chen Yong as Rinuccio - have benefited from the Jockey Club Opera Hong Kong Young Artist Development Programme. "Opera Hong Kong is committed to nurturing local talents through our own training program," says artistic director Warren Mok.

"Having excelled at international competitions and garnered academic honors, the up-and-coming young artists will perform under the direction of Shen, resident stage director of the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing and Dejan Savic, principal conductor of the Belgrade Opera and Ballet Company," he adds.

(HK Edition 08/18/2017 page10)