Gianni Schicchi Sneak Peek

Check out a sneak peak of LA Opera's 2015/2016 production of Puccini's Gianni Schicchi, starring Plácido Domingo, Arturo Chacon-Cruz, and Andriana Chuchman.
Performances now thru Oct. 3rd. For tickets visit: www.LAOpera.org/Schi-Pag
Two legendary directors combine forces for a sensational season-opener. First, Plácido Domingo stars as Gianni Schicchi in Woody Allen’s riotous staging of Puccini’s comic masterpiece, conducted by Grant Gershon. When greedy relatives descend upon their kinsman’s deathbed, they enlist Gianni Schicchi to rewrite the will to their benefit. Handed an opportunity too good to resist, the devious Schicchi turns the tables, securing the future happiness of two young lovers in the process.
After the intermission, Plácido Domingo conducts the conclusion of the double bill, Franco Zeffirelli’s epic production of Pagliacci starring Marco Berti, Ana María Martínez and George Gagnidze. Filling the stage with hair-raising drama, the action plays out in a breathtaking contemporary urban landscape. When a cuckolded husband takes his revenge, his desperate wife must fight for her life in front of a cheering, oblivious audience.

[@bradleymonroe6443]

I think my young budding dramatic tenor singing voice would feel comfortable in the roles of Gianni Schicchi (baritone role) and Rinuccio (tenor role), but most likely Rinuccio.

[@RubyBMMMAD]

i would love to see the video of this whole production. Is it available to purchase?

[@bobdownes162]

I saw it on German TV several years ago. BRILLIANT !

[@edgardo8459]

i love him!!! domingo is a tenor sfogato

[@vinoveritas4921]

Le génie à l'état pur.

[@karamcleod5027]

No subtitles, LA Opera?

[@peteradaniel]

For fucks sake. It's a clip. Are you that handicapped that you can't just enjoy music from a clip without simultaneous translation? It's Opera, not a movie or a play, get over it.

[@karamcleod5027]

Dude- the clip is supposed to get people interested in coming to the show, which, in real life, has subtitles. Get over your snobbery and realize that some people might be intimidated by an untranslated clip. Opera is a hard sell for many people. I'm just making a marketing suggestion, so that more people would feel comfortable going to see that great show, which, btw, is an excellent intro to opera for people who think they won't like it.

[@peteradaniel]

Kara Mcleod With that logic, opera must be even more popular than it ever has been. Especially now that it's popping with visual effects, cloaked in pseudo-intelligence and dumb downed and translated for an attention deficient audience. Yeah subtitling must have opened the flood gates for a Bierberesque explosion of fans, thrilled by the notion that they can finally understand that illogical, melodramatic plot. Yeah, I bet the Met is finally playing to capacity audiences and LA is expanding it's repertoire every season.

[@karamcleod5027]

Sure Alex, you're so much smarter and more cultured than everyone else- you are in it for the pure art. You're not "handicapped" like the audience for which the material is "dumbed down for an attention deficit." Please continue to roll luxuriantly in your sense of superiority while those of us who actually think it wold be a good thing to have more people love opera get on with the practicalities.

[@horcruxfinder1]

*sneak peek

[@lilianwach4526]

You are so right, Sibylle Luise Binder! It's horrible to see how Plácido Domingo is destroying his own legend. Why can't this man understand that there's no voice anymorey? Everybody would understand it in his age of 81 years! I was also so lucky to see Sir Thomas Allen in this production of "Gianni Schicci" and you are right too: he was glorious! I also heard him just a few weeks ago and his voice is still so wonderful. He looks great, he moves like a young boy, so why Los Angeles didn't try to get him again for this role? I just could imagine that he was booked at another place for this time. What a pity!

[@gnirolnamlerf593]

How old was Mr. Domingo in September, 2015? Check, please. What is the title of this opera? Check, please. And what is anymorey? A reference to Morey Amsterdam or perhaps a typing error resulting from an excess of negative emotions from a Thomas Allen fan typing fast and especially, furiously. I have no doubt that Allen can sing this role extremely well. However, what has "mov[ing] like a young boy" -- that's Gherardino's job -- got to do with the character of Gianni Schicchi? I mean: how old was Gianni when he fathered Lauretta? Minus ten? Just watched this performance as presented on NHK a few days ago, and was reminded that this is musically very much an ensemble opera, even if dramatically, Gianni is the mover and shaker of the limited, one-act plot. I was satisfied and laughed a lot, even if Domingo wasn't the greatest baritone in the world at age 74. It was a theatrical event, not a CD, and as such, succeeded. Remember Gianni's closing line: "...if you have been amused, grant me extenuating circumstances!"

[@uppityglivestockian]

@Lillian, only those who have never liked him make such claims. Real fans love his voice as it is and his artistry which has never flagged. A few years of his life ruin the decades of his enrichment of an entire art form? Really? No, only haters tumble so easily to their age bigotry. Not ever, Satan, go back to hell.

[@uppityglivestockian]

I admire Maestro Domingo so much, I have to say, I am reluctant to buy this on DVD because I understand at some point he starts taking off his clothes on stage. Well.... I'd like to skip that, if that's ok. Listening to him sing, no worries. But Woody Allen directed semi-nudity? Nope. Mil gracias por compartir a todos modos.

[@bodiloto]

bellissimo spettacolo per gli occhi,bravo il regista! purtroppo per le orecchie non c'è niente di valido,interessante. Domingo fedele come sempre à se stesso e al suo gusto intepretativo ''soprafino'' ... auguro à quest'uomo molta salute e una lunghissima vita. à volte invidio ai sordi... chi si immaginava negli anni 1966 che l'arte lirica dopo un mezzo secolo morirà?... nessuno.

[@HellasItalia4]

... che dire... In paragone Panerai sembra jesu cristo che fa miracoli! Ma anche Nucci di 2000 e' 100 volte meglio di questa roba qua... ma perche' lo fa e chi lo fa fare!!! Spettacolo esteticamente bellissimo ma ....Schicchi senza Schicchi....

[@bodiloto]

giustissimo carissimo ! questa è una bellissima recita creata per il pubblico sordo... o tempora o mores.

[@marianomunoz686]

placido esta horrible. Ya es hora de una retirada digna

[@TheSycorax]

How embarassing and horrible! Placido Domingo was once a great tenore, but he isn' a baritone and he'll never become one! And thinking how Sir Thomas Allen acted and sang this role (he did it in just this production by Woody Allen first in Los Angeles and then 2009 in Spoleto) - he was glorious! Placido Domingo is just pathetic - an old man who obviously can't stop and doesn't get that these attempts of singing roles not made for him are destroying his own legend.