Music by Giacomo Puccini Libretto by Giovacchino Forzano English Translation by Anne & Herbert Grossman Directed by Jim Kimbrough
As with all Puccini, passions run high in Gianni Schicchi. This 1918 opera depicts the life of a scheming yet ingenious peasant, who tries to cash in on an old man’s vulnerability by changing his will and securing a pay-off for his daughter’s wedding. And, while it would be easy to blame the peasant entirely, Puccini uses the opera’s most famous aria to make it abundantly clear that his daughter should arguably shoulder some of the responsibility, too.
