Puccini’s triptych in its entirety coming to Palma's Teatre Principal

It took fourteen years for Giacomo Puccini’s concept of a triptych opera to come to fruition.

Il trittico means triptych, a set of three associated works in one. There were, therefore, three one-act operas - Il tabarro (The Cloak), Suor Angelica (Sister Angelica) and Gianni Schicchi (based on a character in Dante’s Inferno). The first was a tragedy, the second a religious, all-female work, and the third a comedy.

Il trittico was first performed at the Metropolitan Opera in New York in 1918. Subsequently, and to Puccini’s disgust, the individual operas were staged separately or in pairs. He was, for example, forced to complain to The Royal Opera House when it excluded Suor Angelica.

It was a highly acclaimed work, Gianni Schicchi especially, and it is also - by its very nature - an ambitious opera to stage. In Palma, the running time is three hours, so it is the triptych in its entirety. The Balearic Symphony Orchestra will combine with a host of soloists, some of them familiar names on Mallorca’s opera scene, for what will be a major production.

The operas will be in Italian with Catalan, Spanish and English subtitles.