Design
1944 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
This is the design by Morris Kestelman (1905-1998) the set of the Sadler's Wells Opera production of Puccini's one-act opera Il Tabarro, in a double bill with Gianni Schicchi which opened at London's Prince's Theatre on 5th December 1944. Morris Kestelman designed both costumes and set, and must have post-dated the designs mistakenly as 1945.
The plot concerns Michele and his wife Giorgetta living on a barge in the river Seine, and Michele's murder of the stevedore Luigi with whom Giorgetta is having an afair. After he has killed Luigi, Michele hides the body under a cloak. (un tabarro) When Giorgetta comes home, Michele removes the cloak, revealing her lover’s dead body.
Since the production took place when London was being bombed, the first-night programme noted that the audience would be alerted to an Air Raid warning by an illuminated sign in front of the footlights, asking those who decided to leave to do so quietly, but advising them to remain.
The plot concerns Michele and his wife Giorgetta living on a barge in the river Seine, and Michele's murder of the stevedore Luigi with whom Giorgetta is having an afair. After he has killed Luigi, Michele hides the body under a cloak. (un tabarro) When Giorgetta comes home, Michele removes the cloak, revealing her lover’s dead body.
Since the production took place when London was being bombed, the first-night programme noted that the audience would be alerted to an Air Raid warning by an illuminated sign in front of the footlights, asking those who decided to leave to do so quietly, but advising them to remain.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Gouache and watercolour on cartridge paper |
| Brief description | Design for the set of Puccini's opera Il Tabarro, Prince's Theatre, 5 December 1944. Watercolour and gouache by Morris Kestelman (1905-1998). |
| Physical description | Watercolour and gouache design for the set for Puccini's opera 'Il Tabarro', showing a Parisian street scene at sunset looking through an archway by the Seine to a houseboat centre stage and Notre Dame on the Isle de la Cite in the distance. There are buildings in the foreground, stage left a doorway with a poster advertising the 'Moulin Rouge' on the wall, stage right a sign for the Hotel Bains de Mer and a window with a sign advertising 'Chambre a louer'. The design has been taped to a card backing with brown parcel tape. |
| Dimensions |
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| Marks and inscriptions | Morris Kestelman 1945 (Signed in black ink bottom right) |
| Object history | Designed for the Sadler's Wells Opera Company, and produced at the Prince's Theatre opening on 5th December 1944, in a double bill with Gianni Schicchi. During the war, Sadler's Wells Theatre was used as a rest-home. The company worked outside London but did London seasons at the New Theatre and the Princes', returning to Sadler's Wells in 1945. Il Tabarro was one of Puccini's three one-act operas known as Il Trittico (The Triptych), composed between 1915 and 1918 and first performed at the Metropolitan Opera House, New York, 14 December 1918. |
| Production | This was probably post-dated mistakenly by Morris Kestelman since the production opened at the Prince's Theatre in 1944, in a double bill with Gianni Schichi. |
| Subjects depicted | |
| Place depicted | |
| Summary | This is the design by Morris Kestelman (1905-1998) the set of the Sadler's Wells Opera production of Puccini's one-act opera Il Tabarro, in a double bill with Gianni Schicchi which opened at London's Prince's Theatre on 5th December 1944. Morris Kestelman designed both costumes and set, and must have post-dated the designs mistakenly as 1945. The plot concerns Michele and his wife Giorgetta living on a barge in the river Seine, and Michele's murder of the stevedore Luigi with whom Giorgetta is having an afair. After he has killed Luigi, Michele hides the body under a cloak. (un tabarro) When Giorgetta comes home, Michele removes the cloak, revealing her lover’s dead body. Since the production took place when London was being bombed, the first-night programme noted that the audience would be alerted to an Air Raid warning by an illuminated sign in front of the footlights, asking those who decided to leave to do so quietly, but advising them to remain. |
| Associated objects |
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| Bibliographic reference | Article - In New Mood - published in the Sunday Graphic, 1944, written by Herbert Farjeon, review of the Sadler's Wells Opera's Gianni Schicchi and Il Tabarro at the Prince's Theatre |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | S.344-1987 |
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| Record created | August 29, 2008 |
| Record URL |
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