Holland Park Opera Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi and Mascagni’s Zanetto

This year at Holland Park Opera we will be treated to two one act operas.

Ticket price £140

The price will include premium tickets, programmes, champagne, light refreshments, and soft drinks.  We will have our own private area for the reception before the opera.

For those not familiar with these operas, below is a short synopsis of each one.

Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi is a comedy based on an incident mentioned in Dante’s Divine Comedy.  As Buoso Donati lies dead in his curtained four-poster bed, his relatives gather around to mourn his passing but more particularly to learn the contents of his will.  There is a rumour that Buoso has left everything to a monastery; this disturbs the others, and a frantic search for the will ensues. The document is found by Rinuccio, who is confident that his uncle will have left him plenty of money. He withholds the will momentarily, and asks Zita to allow him to marry Lauretta, daughter of Gianni Schicchi, a newcomer to Florence. Zita states that if Buoso has left them rich, he can marry whom he pleases. A happy Rinuccio sends little Gherardino to fetch Schicchi and Lauretta. As they read, the relatives' worst fears are soon realised; Buoso has indeed bequeathed his fortune to the monastery.  Schicchi then pretends to be Buoso and dictates a new will to the notary.  Although he gives small bequests to the relatives, he leaves most to "my devoted friend Gianni Schicchi".

The second opera is Mascagni’s Zanetto.  In Florence Sylvia, a courtesan of some years, steps out onto her balcony to sing of her boredom with life and love. A young minstrel stops below and sings a paean to love. Intrigued and attracted, Sylvia descends to speak to him; he tells her that he has heard that the beautiful courtesan Sylvia lives nearby. She realizes she has one more chance at love, but the boy’s idealized vision of herself prompts her to tell him to look elsewhere for his Sylvia, and as he wanders off, minstrelling away, she sheds a few tears of amorous regret.