by InTrieste
The grandeur of Puccini met the splendor of Trieste’s Teatro Verdi on Friday evening as Il Trittico returned to the stage for the first time in over half a century. A packed house of opera aficionados, local politicians, and cultural luminaries gathered for the highly anticipated opening night, a testament to the enduring allure of the composer’s rarely staged triptych.
Conducted by Francesco Ivan Ciampa and co-produced with the Teatro Comunale di Bologna, this new staging of Il Tabarro, Suor Angelica, and Gianni Schicchi brought together a cast of distinguished voices, including baritone Roman Burdenko, soprano Olga Maslova, and the much-anticipated Trieste debut of Anastasia Bartoli as Suor Angelica, whose performance followed a 2-minute applause. Under the direction of Pier Francesco Maestrini, the production promised a bold visual interpretation infused with references to Dante’s Divine Comedy.
The evening began in high spirits, as the city’s elite mixed and mingled in the theater’s elegant foyer, setting the stage for a performance that was met with long applause at its conclusion. The singing, as expected, soared: Maslova’s Suor Angelica was particularly affecting, and Burdenko delivered a commanding performance in Il Tabarro. The Teatro Verdi orchestra, under Ciampa’s meticulous baton, unfurled Puccini’s lush harmonies with both precision and passion.
Yet, despite the vocal splendor, the production’s staging proved divisive. Maestrini’s vision—an overtly stark representation of hell—at times veered away from Puccini’s characteristic grandeur. Bodies covered in gray paint lent a ghostly, almost surreal aesthetic to the stage, an approach that, while conceptually striking, often felt at odds with the sheer opulence of Puccini’s music. While some applauded the daring artistic choices, others longed for a visual counterpart more in harmony with the score’s sweeping lyricism.
Regardless of the interpretative differences, the evening was undeniably a cultural milestone for Trieste. With this ambitious return of Il Trittico, Teatro Verdi reaffirms its place as a major operatic institution, bridging past traditions with contemporary perspectives. As performances continue through March 2, audiences will no doubt continue to debate the merits of the production’s artistic choices—but there is no question that Puccini’s music, in the hands of this accomplished cast and orchestra, remains as powerful as ever.
