On 16 June 2022, Varna Summer presented a new staged festival production of Puccini’s celebrated one-acts
Il tabarro and
Gianni Schicchi at the Open-Air Theatre in Varna, in collaboration with Romanian Opera Craiova. Baritone
Piero Terranova headlined the second half as the wily Florentine
Gianni Schicchi, conducted by
Giovanni Pompeo.
Chris Catena directed
Il tabarro (
The Cloak), Puccini’s dark verismo fresco on the Seine, while
Edna Garabedian led
Gianni Schicchi, the sparkling comic caper from
Il trittico. The designs were by
Răsvan Drăgănescu. The cast featured Viktoryia Romanova in a double appearance (Giorgetta / Lauretta), with a full ensemble drawn from the Varna/Craiova collaboration.
Piero Terranova as Gianni Schicchi (Puccini double bill)
Opera · Staged · New Production · Festival · Italian
Credits
| Stage Director — Il tabarro (The Cloak) | Chris Catena |
| Stage Director — Gianni Schicchi | Edna Garabedian |
| Conductor | Giovanni Pompeo |
| Set Designer | Răsvan Drăgănescu |
| Presented by | Varna Summer (International Music Festival), in collaboration with Romanian Opera Craiova |
Programme
- Il tabarro (The Cloak) — Giacomo Puccini
- Gianni Schicchi — Giacomo Puccini
Cast — Il tabarro (The Cloak)
| Michele | Ioan Cherata |
| Giorgetta | Viktoryia Romanova |
| Luigi | David Baños |
| Il Talpa | Dragoş Drăniceanu |
| La Frugola | Lilia Istratii |
| Song Seller | Petrișor Efrem |
| Il Tinca | Stanislav Volosin |
| Female Lover | Corina Vlada |
| Male Lover | Petrișor Efrem |
Cast — Gianni Schicchi
| Gianni Schicchi | Piero Terranova |
| Lauretta | Viktoryia Romanova |
| Zita | Irene Molinari |
| Gherardo | Francesco Napoleoni |
| Nella | Anna Eleonora Riera |
| Gherardino | Miruna Zamfir |
| Simone | Stanislav Chernenkov |
| Marco | Franco Rios Castro |
| La Ciesca | Mary Gougousi |
| Maestro Spinelloccio | Francesco Villella |
| Ser Amantio di Nicolao | Francesco Villella |
| Pinellino | Say Ufuk Gengis |
| Guccio | Victor Dimieru |
| Rinuccio | Federico Buttazzo |
| Betto di Signa | Konstantinos Mavrogenis |
Venue
Open-Air Theatre (Summer Theatre Varna)
Varna, Bulgaria
Puccini double bill at Varna Summer (16 Jun 2022). Piero Terranova stars as Gianni Schicchi at the Open-Air Theatre under Giovanni Pompeo, in a new festival production with Romanian Opera Craiova.
Show Description
On 16 June 2022, Varna Summer presented a new staged festival production of Puccini’s celebrated one-acts Il tabarro and Gianni Schicchi at the Open-Air Theatre in Varna, in collaboration with Romanian Opera Craiova. Baritone Piero Terranova headlined the second half as the wily Florentine Gianni Schicchi, conducted by Giovanni Pompeo. Chris Catena directed Il tabarro (The Cloak), Puccini’s dark verismo fresco on the Seine, while Edna Garabedian led Gianni Schicchi, the sparkling comic caper from Il trittico. Designs by Răsvan Drăgănescu. The cast featured Viktoryia Romanova in a double appearance (Giorgetta / Lauretta), with a full ensemble drawn from the Varna–Craiova collaboration.
About the Operas
Il tabarro (1918) opens Puccini’s Il trittico with a taut verismo tragedy set on a barge in Paris, where jealousy and despair unfold beneath a literal “cloak.” Gianni Schicchi (1918) closes the triptych with a fast-paced comic plot drawn from Dante’s Inferno, in which the clever Schicchi outwits a greedy Florentine family. Together, they form a classic dark-and-light pairing showcasing Puccini’s orchestral colour and razor-sharp characterisation.
