il Tabarro

In 1994, the same Metropolitan Opera put two contrasting pieces of the verismo puzzle side by side—the belated verismo of Puccini’s Il Tabarro and the classic verismo of Leoncavallo’s I Pagliacci, which had reached the stage some twenty-six years earlier.

Puccini's Il trittico is a triple-bill which is seldom performed as such. Of the three one-act short operas that compose it, only Gianni Schicchi is regularly seen on stage; Suor Angelica is second, but perhaps more often performed in concert form, its only famous piece being the aria "senza mamma", while Il tabarro is a real rarity. The effort to set up three different operas which demand quite different casts is certainly one of the reasons for this situation. Il tabarro calls for real spinto voices in the main roles, while Angelica is also quite demanding for the singer in the title role, not to mention the huge number of principals it calls for.

More than 25 years after his first EMI album, Antonio Pappano has established himself as a leading figure of conducting, particularly in music from his native Italy. This collection includes excerpts from all his EMI and Warner Italian recordings, from the famous Verdi and Puccini cycles with Roberto Alagna and Angela Gheorghiu to the recent praised versions of Turandot and Rossini’s sacred works.

Leading director Richard Jones staged his witty, darkly comic realization of Gianni Schicchi for The Royal Opera in 2007. The production was revived in 2012 and here he completes the trio with two new productions of Il Tabarro and Suor Angelica. Antonio Pappano conducts an acclaimed cast including Eva-Maria Westbroek, Ermonela Jaho, Lucio Gallo, Elena Zilio and rising star Francesco Demuro. “A triumph…three wonderfully directed and expertly acted productions. Add in Pappano's impeccable conducting and his valuable introductions to the pieces, and you have a nigh-on ideal Trittico.” BBC Music Magazine

One of today’s most sought-after conductors, acclaimed for his charismatic leadership and inspirational performances in both symphonic and operatic repertoire, Sir Antonio Pappano is Chief Conductor Designate of the London Symphony Orchestra (assuming the full title from the 2024/2025 season) and has been Music Director of the Royal Opera House Covent Garden since 2002. He is Music Director Emeritus of the Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome, having served as Music Director from 2005-2023. Nurtured as a pianist, repetiteur and assistant conductor at many of the most important opera houses of Europe and North America, including at the Lyric Opera of Chicago and several seasons at the Bayreuth Festival as musical assistant to Daniel Barenboim, Pappano was appointed Music Director of Oslo’s Den Norske Opera in 1990, and from 1992-2002 served as Music Director of the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie in Brussels. From 1997-1999 he was Principal Guest Conductor of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra.

One of today’s most sought-after conductors, acclaimed for his charismatic leadership and inspirational performances in both symphonic and operatic repertoire, Sir Antonio Pappano is Chief Conductor Designate of the London Symphony Orchestra (assuming the full title from the 2024/2025 season) and has been Music Director of the Royal Opera House Covent Garden since 2002. He is Music Director Emeritus of the Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome, having served as Music Director from 2005-2023. Nurtured as a pianist, repetiteur and assistant conductor at many of the most important opera houses of Europe and North America, including at the Lyric Opera of Chicago and several seasons at the Bayreuth Festival as musical assistant to Daniel Barenboim, Pappano was appointed Music Director of Oslo’s Den Norske Opera in 1990, and from 1992-2002 served as Music Director of the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie in Brussels. From 1997-1999 he was Principal Guest Conductor of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra.

"Puccini In Love" is the first album by the award winning operatic tenor superstar Roberto Alagna and his wife, soprano Aleksandra Kurzak. Together they are the golden couple of the opera world. The album features some of Puccini’s greatest love duets including Madama Butterfly, La Bohème, Manon Lescaut as well as lesser known duets including Il Tabarro and La Rondine. Puccini in Love showcases some of Puccini’s most emotional and passionate operatic work. Puccini’s command of melody is truly unique to his time and combined with his orchestration creates cinematic and passionate compositions. Roberto Alagna has transcended genre’s through his music—not only is he an opera superstar but he has crossed over into other genre’s of music making his work easily accessible to many types of audiences. Aleksandra and Roberto have performed at some of the greatest opera houses across the world including The Royal Opera House in London, The Metropolitan Opera and La Scala.