Suor Angelica

The one-act opera Suor Angelica (Sister Angelica) was conceived as the central part of Il trittico (The Triptych) that Puccini wrote in the First World War. Commissioned by the Metropolitan Opera of New York and premiered there on 14 December 1918, it met with a mixed reception—not least owing to the stark expressive contrasts between each piece, even if all three pieces centre on the concealment of a death. With its sensuously Debussian harmonies, the opera takes place at a convent near Siena in the second half of the 17th century and concerns Sister Angelica’s illegitimate son, of whose death she is unaware until it is revealed by her aunt, the Princess, who is visiting her for the signing of a legal document. The heartbroken nun takes poison and dies to a vision of the Virgin Mary and her son greeting her in Heaven. Initially sung by Geraldine Farrar, the main role has been taken by such sopranos as Renata Tebaldi, Joan Sutherland and Mirella Freni. About Puccini's Il Trittico Premiered in New York in 1918, Puccini’s last completed opera (Turandot was left unfinished at his death in 1924) is also the composer’s most ambitious—and unusual. Il Trittico (The Triptych) is, in fact, three one-act operas: a sequence the composer designed to be performed in a single evening. A plan to base each opera on one of the books of Dante’s The Divine Comedy was soon abandoned; only the comedy Gianni Schicchi retains this link. The sharply bladed satire of this elegant ensemble farce is set against the lyrical tragedy of Suor Angelica and the gritty social realism of Il tabarro.