At the Bastille Opera, we will not soon forget the final curtain closing on a concert hall swept away by that vaguely painful joy that only opera can conjure when the stars align, as in this production of Giacomo Puccini's Il Trittico, running until May 28. The casting was electrified by the presence of the comet Asmik Grigorian; the orchestra pit was in a state of grace under Carlo Rizzi's baton; and the meticulously crafted staging by Christof Loy all contributed to the success of Puccini's astonishing trilogy, composed between 1913 and 1918.

A macabre comedy about a Florentine bigwig deprived of his last wishes, the shipwreck of a couple of sailors, adrift against a backdrop of adultery, and the tragic and rebellious confinement of an unwed mother in a convent near Siena: Il Tabarro, Suor Angelica, and Gianni Schicchi, though initially conceived as a trilogy akin to Dante's Divine Comedy, represent three distinct entities. They are often performed separately, paired with other works (for instance, Gianni Schicchi with Ravel's L'Heure espagnole at the Palais Garnier in Paris in 2004).

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