Giacomo Puccini
Gianni Schicchi

Giacomo Puccini completed his comic opera Gianni Schicchi in 1918. The scene is set in Florence in 1299. Buoso Donati, a rich old man, is on his deathbed and wants to leave all his money to the local monastery. The heirs want to take possession of Buoso’s property by dishonest action and call for help Gianni Schicchi, whose daughter, Lauretta, is engaged to the rich man’s nephew. Disguised as Buoso, the cheat Schicchi forges the will in his own favour and gives his blessing to his daughter’s marriage.

Gennady Shaposhnikov, director of the Gianni Schicchi production:

“Imagine two young loving people (Rinuccio and Lauretta), who are sincere, pure and unselfish. But their milieu is their polarity. They are greedy, unscrupulous people, seeking to lay hands on the property of their rich relative, Buoso. Thus, there are two poles in the story, with love on the one pole and spiritual death on the other. This subject can be interpreted as drama or tragedy. In our case the vice will be punished jocularly – a cheat outwits other cheats. But the opera is not about how to cheat more cleverly. Gianni Schicchi got involved in sharing out the money only because he wanted to punish greed and to help love. So, when people ask me what this opera is about, I always answer that it is about unmercenary love”.