SF Opera's Il Trittico

Patricia Racette knows her Puccini: her Madame Butterfly's back in 2007 and 2006 set the bar. In the first leg, Il Tabarro (The Cloak), she portrays a sexed-up wife who longs for her Brando-ish lover, and you have to admit Brandon Jovanovich's hot, even without adding "as opera singers go." She ain't chopped liver either, in her femme fatale/film noir outfit.

She's trying to break free from her life on her aging husband's barge. It is symbolized by an oppressive set which looks like a prison wall with no light and no hope, and turns its back to the sunset mentioned in the lyrics. Conductor Patrick Summers reached for the same orchetral colors of darkness and oppressiveness with a hand a tad too heavy. He did oppress his singers a bit much, and Racette, for all the beautiful quality of her sound, and Jovanovich got overpowered a bit. Gavanelli was fantastic in Rigoletto, and here as well.

In Suor Angelica, Racette took the veil of the nun, but not the vow of silence, thanks goodness. This piece is Puccini at his most mawkish. Anyone who has seen La Bohème knows how he sets up Mimi's death with his group of bohemian buddies playfully horsing around: the more fun they have, the bigger the crash. Suor Angelica is in the same emotionally manipulative vein, both story- and music-wise: pulling shamelessly all the tear-jerking levers, going over and then beyond despair. Racette's incredibly committed performance prevents the opera from jumping over the kitsch cliff, and yes, we got teary eyes. Ewa Podles made her company debut. She is a famed contralto, and has a beautiful voice in the lower range indeed. In the top notes, she sounded like she was singing in a falseto. Oh, it was harmonious, and her performance award-worthy, but it was as if she had two voices, which we found fascinating.

Gianni Schicchi completes the trilogy with a comedy, and Racette could mostly rest. She basically has one aria to sing, and she nailed it. We wanted to see Il Trittico's production in Los Angeles last season, since Woody Allen directed this act there (Sondra Radvanovsky, Il Trovatore's current Leonora, was Suor Angelica there).

No Woody here, but still plenty of fun to be had. Racette gets a reprieve, her role as Gianni's daughter isn't too demanding, it is an ensemble piece where no one particularly stands out. Except for course for the namesake character, and Gavanelli just stole the show, as well as he did Buoso's inheritance. The production is witty as well, taking place inside a cube with marble tiles on all sides. The back wall opens up with a rooftop view of Florence, and the only window on the outside world of the evening: as much a breath of fresh air than the comedy taking place. In a subtle touch, one of Buoso's estate item is a Giacometti's "Walking Man" statue, an ironic wink to the sculptor's own estate being (allegedly) embezzled by former French foreign affairs minister Roland Dumas.

The supporting roles are mostly fantastic, from Andrea Silvestrelli's booming voice to Daniela Mack angelic nun or David Lomeli's bright tenor.