Opera in the Ozarks Presents: Suor Angelica & Gianni Schicchi

This is an evening of two, one-act plays by Puccini. Suor Angelica (Sister Angelica) is a tragic one-act opera about a noblewoman forced into a convent after bearing an illegitimate child. Angelica lives in grief and longing for her son until her cruel aunt visits and reveals the boy died years ago. After a moment of despair and attempted suicide, Angelica is granted a vision of the Virgin Mary and her son, allowing her to die in peace. Gianni Schicchi is a comedy about greedy Florentine relatives who, after their wealthy patriarch Buoso Donati dies, discover he left his fortune to monks.  This prompts them to hire the cunning Gianni Schicchi to impersonate Buoso and rewrite the will. Schicchi  cleverly bequeaths the best parts to himself and his daughter Lauretta (who loves Donati’s nephew Rinuccio), teaching the family a lesson in greed with severe penalties for fraud.