A notably stellar cast in Puccini's black comedy 'Gianni Schicchi'

Glyndebourne has a first-rate lyric comedian in Alessandro Corbelli and a conductor who handles the music with feeling for its tenderness as well as its brio. The lovers, Sally Matthews and Massimo Giordano, bring fresh voices and good looks, and among the mean old relatives Felicity Palmer's brazen-voiced Zita is a joy. Small parts like the Notary's assistants the boy who brings the news that Gianni is on his way are played with relish, and even the corpse of Buoso Donati comes to life as he falls out of the cupboard where he has been bestowed and takes a brisk curtain-call at the end.

Puccini's comic masterpiece comes in a production by Annabel Arden that determinedly underlines the black side of this sparkling farce...[Jurowski] also emphasizes that point...Corbelli proves a masterly Schicchi, at once characterful, funny and sinister