Don Buoso / Gianni Schicchi

Dante Alighieri knew the story of Gianni Schicchi, the Florentine wise-guy, well - he even mentions him in his famous Divine Comedy: Schicchi is said to have forged the will of the rich Buoso Donati in his favour and went to hell for it. However, Gianni Schicchi only came into widespread awareness thanks to Giacomo Puccini and his operatic comedy. After the death of Don Buoso Donati, his relatives gathered, as they usually do, to claim their share of Buoso's considerable inheritance. There are rumours that Buoso bypassed his relatives and bequeathed the largest part of his estate to a monastery… How about bypassing Don Buoso and his will for a change… Is it all really as much fun as one might think from Puccini's grotesque, bravura and sparkling music, which of course includes some typically Puccinian melodies, led by the hit "O mio babbino caro"? Who are these people, these relatives of the rich, late Don Buoso? And who was this Don Buoso Donati? Are they all just goofy characters from medieval Florence, or are we much closer to them than we might think?

Has Dante overlooked anyone else in hell who has a hand in this story? These are the questions that inspired Czech opera director David Radok to create a brand new black opera comedy, which predates Puccini's Gianni Schicchi and tells how the death of Don Buoso could have happened… Together with composer Jan Kučera, they have written an opera novelty for the National Theatre, which draws on Puccini's famous nude opera in terms of plot and music, but at the same time puts the whole story in a slightly different light.

Operation is in Italian with Czech and English subtitles.