LATVIJAS NACIONĀLĀ OPERA

This year's Riga Opera Festival at the Latvian National Opera will be opened with a new production of Puccini's Il Trittico on June 8. Il Trittico, world-premiered at the Metropolitan Opera New York in 1918, consists out of the three one-act operas Il Tabarro, Suor Angelica, and Gianni Schicchi. It has never been performed in its entirety in Riga before.

Lithuanian soprano Asmik Grigorian will take on the extraordinary challenge to portray the evening's three female leads: Giorgetta in Il Tabarro, the title-role in Suor Angelica, and Lauretta in Gianni Schicchi. Brazilian tenor and OPERALIA winner Thiago Arancam will sing Luigi in Il Tabarro, Swedish baritone Kosma Ranuer will sing Michele in Il Tabarro and the title-role in Gianni Schicchi.

Under the baton of Chief Conductor Modestas Pitrenas, the cast also includes mezzo-sopranos Ilona Bagele and Andžella Goba as Frugola in Il Tabarro, as La Zia Principessa in Suor Angelica, and as Zita in Gianni Schicchi, sopranos Inga Šlubovska and Gunta Davidčuka as Sister Genovieffa in Suor Angelica, and tenor Raimonds Bramanis as Rinuccio in Gianni Schicchi.

Il Trittico will be directed by Viesturs Kairišs, the sets and costumes will be designed by Ieva Jurjane. Kairišs won international critical acclaim for his productions of Die Walküre (2007) and Siegfried (2008) at the Latvian National Opera.

There will be a second performance during the Festival on June 13. In the 2010/11 season, Il Trittico will receive seven performances at the LNO.

Lithuanian soprano Asmik Grigorian is a graduate from the National School of Arts in Vilnius and later continued her studies in Nice, France. She gave her debut at the Latvian National Opera in June 2006 as Susanna in a new production of Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro. Since then she has returned to the stage of the LNO in a wide spectrum of roles including the Contessa Almaviva in Figaro, Violetta Valéry in La Traviata, Micaela in Carmen, Musetta in La Boheme, the title-roles of Handels Alcina and Dvorak's Rusalka, Lisa in The Queen of Spades, Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni, and Charlotte in Werther. Next season, she will give her debuts at Komische Oper Berlin in the title-role of Rusalka, and at the Cologne Opera as Marie in Alban Berg's Wozzeck.

Brazilian tenor Thiago Arancam studied at the Municipal School of Music of Sao Paulo and at the University of Music Carlos Gomes where he graduated in 2003. In October 2004, he was the first Brazilian ever to be invited to attend the famous Singers' Academy at Milan's La Scala. He gave his debut at La Scala with a concert in 2005. In 2008, he participated in Placido Domingo's OPERALIA competition where he won three prizes: the First Zarzuela Prize, the First Audience Prize, and the Second Opera Prize. Following the competition, he debuted as Don Josè in Carmen at the Washington National Opera. In 2009, he gave his debut as Cavaradossi in Tosca in Frankfurt, Maurizio in Cilea's Adriana Lecouvreur in Turin, and Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly in Valencia under the baton of Lorin Maazel. Next season, he will sing the role of Christian in Franco Alfano's Cyrano de Bergerac at the San Francisco Opera, Pinkerton at the Washington Opera, and Cavaradossi at the Deutsche Oper Berlin. Il Trittico marks his debut at the Latvian National Opera.

Swedish baritone Kosma Ranuer was educated at the Operastudio 67 and the University College of Opera in Stockholm. As a student he sang the role of Count Ceprano in Rigoletto at the Royal Opera in Stockholm. He made his professional debut as Monterone in Rigoletto at the Malmö Opera in 2004. His repertoire includes Nick Shadow in Stravinsky's The Rake's Progress, Renato in Verdi's Un Ballo in Maschera, the title-role in Rigoletto, Masetto in Don Giovanni, the title-role in Arrigo Boito's Mefistofele, Barnaba in Ponchielli's La Gioconda and Don Pizzarro in Beethoven's Fidelio. Ealier this season, he sang the role of Paulo in Verdi's Simon Boccanegra at the Frankfurt Opera. Il Trittico marks Kosma Ranuer's debut at the Latvian National Opera.

About the stories

Il Tabarro takes place on a barge on the river Seine. Michele, the captain, recalls happier days when he would shelter his much younger wife Giorgetta and their son under his cloak. But when the son died, the relationship turned sour. Michele finds out that Giorgetta is having an affair with the stevedore Luigi. Michele confronts Luigi, kills him - and presents the corpse, wrapped in the cloak, to his wife.

Suor Angelica is set in a convent. Seven years ago, Angelica was forced to enter this convent as punishment for having defamed her family name by bearing a child out of wedlock. She hasn't had any contact with the outside world ever since she joined the sisterhood. When her aunt, the Princess, visits her to demand Angelica renounce her share of the family estate, Angelica is desperate for news of her son. The Princess coldly informs her that the boy died two years ago. Angelica commits suicide. Dying, she has a vision of being reunited with her child.

Gianni Schicchi unfolds at the deathbed of a wealthy patriarch, Buoso Donati. Each of the greedy family members hopes to inherit the biggest share of the estate. When they find the testament, they realize Donati has left his entire fortune to a monastery. They are desperate for a solution how to get hold of the estate after all. Rinuccio suggests they consult the wily Gianni Schicchi, the family's black sheep. At first, the family rejects the idea, but Rinuccio, who is in love with Schicchi's daughter Lauretta, convinces them to summon Schicchi who arrives together with Lauretta. Schicchi suggests he himself will impersonate the dying Donati and make a new will that would bequeath all of Donati's properties to the family members. He warns everybody that forgery of a testament is a serious crime which will be severely punished by the law, so nobody must ever find out about their scheme. The family hides the corpse of Donati, while Schicchi takes the place of the dying man. When the notary arrives, Schicchi dictates a new will and, to the outrage of the family, makes sure that he himself gets the most valuable properties.