Opera North

La Vida Breve (Manuel de Falla, 1913) is an all or nothing tragedy of a woman who loves too much a worthless man who strings her along, knowing all the while that he is to marry another girl. The atmosphere is heavy with Spanish fatalism, heightened by the influence of Andalusian folk song, lightened by Spanish dance rhythms, and the action is ferociously intense.

After the dark, suicidal angst of La vida breve, Gianni Schicchi (Giacomo Puccini, 1918) is the perfect companion piece - a satyr play played out around the death-bed of a rich man. The scheming relatives who vie for a chunk of his fortune are all too recognizable types, revealing the greed and avarice which lies just below the thin veneer of their family loyalties.

See www.operanorth.co.uk/productions/la-vida-breve for more information on La Vida Breve.
See www.operanorth.co.uk/productions/gianni-schicchi for more information on Gianni Schicchi.