Here, unmarried mothers live in the same building as the nuns, yet there is little sisterly communication as they do the humdrum washing and cleaning. The last Magdalene laundry closed in 1996 and McVicar has a baby being handed over to the nuns at the very start of Suor Angelica, turbocharging an already disturbing story into real event. In a finely sung cast, Russian tenor Viktor Antipenko was a strong, vibrant Luigi, Roland Wood a gruff, authoritative Michele and Korean soprano Sunyoung Seo was an outstanding Giorgetta, passionate in her duet with Luigi as Stuart Stratford stoked up the orchestra and Puccini’s music swelled. A misplaced flicker of a match, and Luigi is discovered by Michele who murders him covering the body with his cloak, the garment he used to wrap his wife and baby in to keep them warm from bitter river chill. Everyone’s hopes and dreams are laid bare including Luigi, the stevedore in a clandestine relationship with Giorgetta.
Charles Edwards’ quayside setting under a bridge captured grime and poverty, atmospherically lit by Ben Pickersgill. It’s a brilliant slow-burn chiller, Puccini’s music peppered with the sounds of the river, the opera alive with dubious quayside characters including a song-seller flogging bits of Bohème and an out-of-tune organ grinder entertaining shopgirls.
#Una conversa free
Tabarro tells the story of barge owner Michele and his free spirited wife Giorgetta, their relationship patchy after the death of their baby. Barge life is tough and monotonous, cargos humped by poorly paid labourers in the gritty parts of the city.
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