Puccini: Il tabarro & Gianni Schicchi ****
English Touring Opera, Hackney Empire, 2nd March 2018
Rip the beating heart from Puccini’s Il trittico and, surprisingly enough, you’re still left with a very satisfying evening. The full triptych is long and cannot squeeze comfortably within the constraints of taking a production to sixteen venues over three months, so English Touring Opera sets aside Suor Angelica to pair the Grand Guignol grit of Il tabarro with comic masterpiece Gianni Schicchi. And a richly rewarding double bill they make, with effective stagings, originally seen in 2011, each from a different director. Tabarro suffers some flawed casting, but superb ensemble work enables Schicchi to hit the operatic bull’s-eye.
Craig Smith (Michele) in Il tabarro
© Richard Hubert Smith
Read the full review on Bachtrack.