Royal Opera House, London
Running time: 3 hours and 40 minutes
Age Restrictions: Children under the age of five are not permitted into our theatres. Children over the age of five must have their own ticket and sit next to an accompanying adult.
Tickets from £51.00
Lovers. Mothers. Gold-diggers. In this spectacular trio of Puccini operas, love’s contrasts are laid bare. The Olivier Award-winning Richard Jones directs, and Speranza Scappucci conducts three casts featuring Natalya Romaniw, Étienne Dupuis, SeokJong Baek, Ermonela Jaho and Bryn Terfel.
## The stories of Il trittico
In Il tabarro, Giorgetta seeks relief from her misery at the death of her baby by having an affair – how will her husband Michele react? In Suor Angelica, the nun Angelica is visited by a relative who brings unwelcome news. And in Gianni Schicchi, a Florentine family enlists the cunning Schicchi to help them rewrite a will, little knowing that Schicchi has his own plans.
## Il tabarro
Giorgetta, the wife of Michele, a Parisian barge owner, has fallen in love with Luigi, one of her husband’s workers in the dockyard – though Michele is growing increasingly suspicious. Michele forces Luigi to admit his relationship with Giorgetta and then strangles him. He covers the body with the cloak he used to wrap Giorgetta and their child, who died in infancy. Giorgetta, repentant, approaches – and Michele reveals her lover’s corpse.
## Suor Angelica
Sister Angelica has been forced to enter a convent by her family, following a scandal. Her aunt, the Princess pays her first visit since Angelica entered the convent years ago, asking Angelica to sign over her inheritance to her younger sister. But the Princess comes with devastating news of Angelica’s illegitimate son, whom she has thought of every day since she entered the convent. Two years ago, at the age of five, the boy died. Overwhelmed with despair, Suor Angelica takes poison. Realising that suicide is a mortal sin, she prays to the Virgin Mary for forgiveness.
## Gianni Schicchi
When Buoso Donati dies, his family are horrified to learn that he has left all his money to a monastery. They turn to the cunning Gianni Schicchi to help them change his will. But the plan backfires! Gianni Schicchi, impersonating Donati, makes a will leaving the best of the inheritance to himself – while cheerfully reminding the outraged family of the gruesome punishment they face if their plot is revealed.
Royal Opera House
Royal Opera House
Bow Street
London
WC2E 9DD
The Royal Opera House is an opera house and major performing arts venue in the London district of Covent Garden. The large building is often referred to as simply "Covent Garden", after a previous use of the site of the opera house's original construction in 1732. It is the home of The Royal Opera, The Royal Ballet and the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House. Originally called the Theatre Royal, it served primarily as a playhouse for the first hundred years of its history. In 1734, the first ballet was presented. A year later Handel's first season of operas began. Many of his operas and oratorios were specifically written for Covent Garden and had their premieres there.
The current building is the third theatre on the site following disastrous fires in 1808 and 1857. The façade, foyer and auditorium date from 1858, but almost every other element of the present complex dates from an extensive reconstruction in the 1990s. The Royal Opera House seats 2,268 people and consists of four tiers of boxes and balconies and the amphitheatre gallery. The proscenium is 12.20 m wide and 14.80 m high. The main auditorium is a Grade 1 listed building.
Travel by train: Charing Cross. Nearest tube: Covent Garden
