"Murder, suicide and death tinged with black comedy," says Italian opera director Damiano Michieletto about the themes of Il tabarro, Suor Angelica and Gianni Schicchi, respectively. "I wanted to explore that dark side, to bring out the violence and cynicism of the human psyche."
On October 10, Michieletto unveils his new Puccini Trittico for Theater an der Wein in stark realism. Tabarro's set in an industrial harbor space, described as a world of pain where workers, oppressed like slaves, search for escape through ~sexual healing~. Suor Angelica's locked in a prison cell, incarcerated against her will, to serve out a sentence. Gianni Schicchi's players fight over the inheritance in "ferocious" and "deceitful" shades. Michieletto likes his slasher flix!
The cast includes Patricia Racette (as Giorgetta and Suor Angelica) and Roberto Frontali (as Michele and Gianni Schicchi).
This past summer, Michieletto's Christmas-themed la Bohème set in a mall was a hit at the Salzburg Festival.