Cathalena E. Burch Puccini composed some of the most iconic operas in the repertoire, from “Madama Butterfly” and “Tosca” to “Turandot” and “La Boheme.”
Of the trio, “Gianni Schicchi” is the most frequently performed today and its aria “O mio babbino caro” ranks as one of the composer’s most famous and one of the most popular arias in the genre. People are also reading… Stokes said she chose the one-act, hourlong operas to showcase the Fred Fox School of Music opera program’s “really exciting young students” and as a way to introduce opera to “anybody who hasn’t come to an opera.”“Gianni Schicchi” takes its cues from a character mentioned in Dante’s “Inferno” in which a 13th century Italian knight, Schicchi, assumes the identity of Buoso Donati.
Remember how “Madama Butterfly” ends? Puccini ends “Suor Angelica” on a similar note but with a more hopeful vision of her son and the Virgin Mary greeting her.