- Giacomo Puccini. Opera in one act. 1918.
- Libretto by Giovacchino Forzano, after an episode in Dante’s Inferno .
- First performance at the Metropolitan Opera House, New York, on 14th December 1918.
CHARACTERS
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| Gianni Schicchi, aged 50 | baritone |
| Lauretta, his daughter, aged 21 | soprano |
| Zita (La Vecchia), aged 60, cousin of Buoso Donati | contralto |
| Rinuccio, aged 24, her nephew | tenor |
| Gherardo, aged 40, Buoso Donati's nephew | tenor |
| Nella, aged 34, his wife | soprano |
| Gherardino, aged 7, their son | alto |
| Betto di Signa, of uncertain age, Buoso Donati's brother-in-law | bass |
| Simone, aged 70, Buoso Donati's cousin | bass |
| Marco, aged 45, his son | baritone |
| La Ciesca, aged 38, Marco's wife | mezzo-soprano |
| Maestro Spinelloccio, doctor | bass |
| Ser Amantio di Nicolao, lawyer | baritone |
| Pinellino, cobbler | bass |
| Guccio, painter | bass |
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Buoso Donati's relations are anxious about the property he may have left them in his will, which
they search for and find, revealing that, as they had feared, Buoso Donati had left everything to a
monastery. Rinuccio, who hopes to marry Lauretta, daughter of Gianni Schicchi, suggests that the
latter should be called, for whatever help he can give. After due consideration, he proposes taking
the place of the dead man, convincing the doctor, speaking from behind the bed- curtains, and a
lawyer, who draws up a new will, making smaller bequests to the family, but leaving the major
properties to himself, threatening the family with legal penalties if they reveal anything, since they
have all been party to the fraud. Rinuccio is now free to marry Lauretta.
Best known of all excerpts from Gianni Schicchi is Lauretta's plea to her father for help, O mio
babbino caro (O dear father), too often taken completely out of its satirical context. Gianni Schicchi
forms part of the trilogy Il trittico (The Triptych), with Suor Angelica (Sister Angelica) and Il
tabarro (The Cloak).
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