Puccini Il Trittico Asmik Grigorian (soprano) et al; Wiener Staatsopernchor, Vienna Philharmonic/Franz Welser-Möst; dir. Christof Loy (Salzburg, 2022) Unitel DVD: 808908; Blu-ray: 809004 181 mins
I’d not had an opportunity to watch Asmik Grigorian before, but in the space of three short hours she had jumped effortlessly to the top of my list of favourite singer-actresses. Though not every aspect of this production is perfect, a performance like Grigorian’s here cannot conceivably be given less than five stars, for she is a sensation – each heroine entirely distinctive, every expression psychologically nuanced, her singing matched only by the unbridled playing of the Vienna Philharmonic.
Director Christof Loy gives us three operas of spartan simplicity, all updated to periods from the 1940s (Il tabarro) to the near-present. Puccini’s stated order of performance is changed, an unusual decision that alters the pacing of the triptych. We begin with a surprisingly serious Gianni Schicchi, full of perky relatives, but not milked for humour in the usual way, with a rather sombre Schicchi (Misha Kiria) and ‘O mio babbino caro’ played resolutely straight. Il tabarro is devastating in its depiction of a marriage beyond repair, Grigorian’s entire demeanour instantaneously shifting as she moves between the husband who has stamped out her light (Roman Burdenko) and the lover who flicks it back on (Joshua Guerrero). All Suor Angelica’s tend to look rather similar but a clever change of costuming midway-through is a dramatic stroke of genius. With Karita Mattila as the epitome of designer-clad, velvety-voiced malevolence and Grigorian’s emotional collapse near unbearable to watch, the rationale for the reordering makes sense, for there could be no levity after this.
Alexandra Wilson