Il trittico

The three one-act operas are very different in character, setting and subject matter, but they share one key feature: death. In Il tabarro (The cloak), a sailor and his wife have lost their only child and have become fatally estranged in the aftermath. The main character in Suor Angelica was banished to a convent after giving birth to an illegitimate baby. There, seven years later, she learns that her son has died. In desperation, she commits suicide but as she dies she is forgiven by the Virgin Mary in a vision. In Gianni Schicchi, a rich old man dies. His greedy family try to get their hands on the inheritance with the help of the cunning farmer Schicchi.