| Giacomo Puccini
was born on December 22th, 1858 in Lucca,
Toscana. He was Michele Puccini (1813-1864) and Albina Magi's
(1831-1884) sixth child and was baptized with the name of
Giacomo Antonio Domenico Michele Secondo María Puccini.
Giacomo belonged to the fifth generation of the remarkable
Puccini dynasty which gave the Republic and the Church many
composers and organists.
When Giacomo was six years old, his father
died and left a widow and seven orphans in poverty. The local
authorities of Lucca gave the organist’s job to his
uncle Fortunato Magi on the condition that he cede it to Giacomo
Puccini when he was prepared. Puccini began his music lessons
with his uncle Fortunato, the director of the Instituto musicale
Pacini, and then with his Uncle’s teacher, Carlo Angeloni.
Since he was a child, Puccini sang in the choir of the Cathedral
of San Matino and the church of San Michele, and then at 14
he was able to fill in as organist in the neighborhood.
In 1876, when he was 18 years old, he made
an 18-kilometre journey on foot from Lucca to Pisa to see
a performance of "Aida". On this occasion he discovered
of the world of opera and his future was decided. That same
year he composed "Prelude in e minor for orchestra"
and in 1877 "Plaudite Populi" for baritone, chorus
and orchestra, followed by "Credo" in 1878.
With a scholarship from Queen Margherita and
the financial aid of a family, Puccini entered the Milan Conservatory
in 1880. Although he was over the age limit for entrance —
he was 22 years old — he received good enough marks
in the entrance examination to be accepted into the senior
composition class. The first year he studied with the famous
composer and violinist Antonio Bazzini, one of the few Italian
musicians with a European background. Puccini composed a string
quartet for him in the style of Mendelssohn. The next year
he began study with Ponchielli. Ponchielli, composer of the
opera "La Gioconda", awakened Puccini's interest
in the theatre and encouraged him to compose operas. He did
all he could to develop and promote Puccini's career as an
opera composer.
In addition to the lessons with his principal
teacher Ponchielli, Puccini had the chance in Milan to rub
elbows with illustrious interpreters of the time. The encounters
and conversations with them were most interesting. His young
intelligence was enriched considerably by the performances
that he witnessed. In fact, his true passion for opera had
already begun when he went to Pisa to see the performance
of Verdi's Aida.
The fruits of his study at the Conservatory
were Preludio Sinfonico and Capriccio Sinfonico, with which
he graduated in 1883 with the degree "Maestro di Musica".
Both works show rich orchestral imagination and his characteristic
harmony and melody.
Franchetti, Mascagni and Puccini Giulio Ricordi
Through Ponchielli, Puccini met his first
librettist, Ferdinando Fontana. Their first collaboration
was "Le Villi". Puccini wrote this opera while still
a student to participate in a competition announced by Sonzogno
in 1882. Although he failed to win, this opera attract the
attention of Giulio Ricordi who not only published the score,
but also arranged the première at Teatro del Verme
in Milán. The première was so successful that
the Teatro della Scala accepted it for the following season.
With this production Ricordi established a lasting relationship
with Puccini and commissioned him to compose his second opera,
"Edgar".
The native house (today a museum), in the centre of Lucca,
not far from Piazza San Michele
open the
Virtual tour 360°
At the age of 25, Puccini met Elvira, the
wife of a rich merchant of Lucca, who decided to exchange
her safe bourgeois existence for the freedom of an artist’s
life. She left Lucca with her daughter to live together with
Puccini at Monza. Puccini's only son, Antonio, was born on
December 23rd 1886. Elvira, who was endowed with both beauty
and a strong will, endured all kinds of criticism from a strict
Catholic society and took upon herself the impoverished life
she chose. Nevertheless, the relationship could not be legalized
until 1904, after the death of her husband.
After almost 4 years of work, Puccini's second
opera, "Edgar", was premiered in 1889. However it
was not a success due to a weak libretto. Puccini had to revise
the score several times. This failure was a hard blow for
Puccini because he was 31 years old and another failure would
mean the end of his career. His publisher, Giulio Ricordi,
told him "Remember, Puccini, you are at the most difficult
moment of your artist life.... I will not allow you to stagnate
.... We must stop torturing ourselves, start working and attempt
to find a good subject and a good librettist."
The composer wrote on April 3rd 1890 to his
younger brother Michele, who was in Argentina: "If you
could find a way for me to earn money, I would join you. Are
there any possibilities? I'll give up all I have here. Write
me frequently and tell me everything you are doing. .... I
worked until 3 o'clock at the early morning yesterday and
then ate a meal consisting of a few onions. The theaters here
are stingy and the audiences are getting more and more difficult
to please. May God help me. I'm prepared to go if you write
me. However, I need money for the trip, I warn you."
His brother's letter avoided the trip. Michele wrote: "Don't
come here. You can not imagine what has happened to me. I
have been working like a slave without being able to save
any money because of the high cost of living..."
What Puccini did to change his life was to
redouble his efforts, this time with "Manon Lescaut".
In order to not repeat the mistake he made with "Edgar",
Puccini worked with eight librettists (including Ricordi and
himself). It was the first time that he picked his own subject,
although Ricordi wanted him to change his mind because of
fear of comparison with Massenet. , Puccini wanted to translate
what Massenet expressed in a French way into Italian terms
- with desperate passion. Its première was an immense
success which spread outside of Italy. At this glorious moment,
the composer told a friend, "I think I understand well
the operatic language and the operatic stage. I'm sure I'll
succeed in this art." "Manon Lescaut" made
Puccini a well-known composer throughout the world. It was
performed within a few years in Buenos Aires, Rio de Janeiro,
St. Petersburg, Madrid and Hamburg, and then in London, Lisbon,
Budapest, Prague, Philadelphia, etc. Puccini's financial circumstances
were changed completely and allowed him to build his own villa
in Torre del Lago.
After the immense successful première
of "Manon Lescaut", Puccini wanted to take his brother
back to Italy. However this intention was not to be fulfilled.
Michele's death was a mystery; the details remain unknown
and Puccini, at least in the public eye, never talked about
it. On one occasion, Puccini confessed "I always feel
melancholy and with a heavy heart. I have no reason for it,
but this is how I feel." There are many reasons to suppose
that this melancholy had its origin in the loss of his father.
The death of his brother in a dramatic condition also left
a scar in his heart.
Puccini produced his operas at great intervals
because of his fastidiousness in choosing subjects. He was
extremely fussy with the text, seldom satisfied, and paid
close attention to small nuances so that the delivery of the
words and the logical order of the sentences conformed with
his wishes. Puccini also involved himself in many matters
relating to the production of his operas, from selecting singers
and conductors to supervising rehearsals. He did all he could
to be present at all the rehearsals and performances. After
"Manon Lescaut", the problem of librettists was
solved by Ricordi. He secured for Puccini the team of Luigi
Illica, who worked out the plot and drafted the dialogue,
and Giuseppe Giacosa, who put the lines into verse. The first
fruit of their collaboration was "La Bohème",
based on Henry Murger's novel "Scènes de la vie
de Bohème."
Puccini and Toscanini
Puccini and his librettists, Luigi Illica
and Giuseppe Giacosa
At first, his colleague, Leoncavallo, offered
him the libretto, but Puccini, probably thinking that it couldn't
be good enough, declined it, and suggested that he set it
to music himself. That was exactly what Leoncavallo did, and
this led Puccini to decide to compose the opera after all.
Although Puccini had a comfortable life at Torre del Lago,
and enjoyed the companionship of his friends in the village
- they founded the "Club la Bohème" - the
composer worked as quickly as his librettists did. The opera
was premiered before Leoncavallo's. Although Puccini preferred
a more famous conductor, he accepted Ricordi's recommendation
of a young musical director of the Teatro Regio, Arturo Toscanini.
The premiere was a success, but not so great as "Manon
Lescaut". The critics gave this opera a cool reception.
Nevertheless, the public took to La Bohème more and
more enthusiastically with each performance and finally the
maestro triumphed with the production in Palermo. This opera
was acclaimed in the biggest theatres of the world within
two years, even if it took a few seasons longer to become
established in Vienna. Gustav Mahler, who had just joined
the Vienna Court Opera as conductor, was sent to Venice in
May 1897 to hear the world premiere of Leoncavallo’s
and a performance of Puccini’s Bohème. He reported
back to the director of the opera that Puccini’s version
was by far the better of the two works ("One measure
of Puccini is worth more than all of Leoncavallo"), however
director Jahn was on good terms with Leoncavallo and had already
decided to produce Leoncavallo’s version. After Mahler
took over as director of the Court Opera, he produced Puccini’s
Bohème in 1903.
In 1889 Fontano, the librettist of "Le
Villi" and Edgar", suggested "La Tosca"
to Puccini as the subject of a new opera, but it took time
for the publisher Ricordi to arrange for the rights to the
play. While negotiations proceeded, Puccini worked on "Manon
Lescaut" and "La Bohème". Since the
author of "La Tosca", Victorien Sardou, didn't like
Puccini's music — in fact, he only listened to fragments
of "Le Villi" and "Edgar" — Ricordi
acquired the play for Alberto Franchetti, Puccini's rival,
and Luigi Illica. At first, Puccini was not so interested
in "Tosca" because he still had qualms about the
subject matter, but the interview of Franchetti and Illica
with Sardou in Paris, and the assistance of Verdi there, awakened
Puccini's interest, and he decided that he wanted to compose
Tosca after all. This may have been what Ricordi had intended,
believing that Puccini would have more success. At last, Ricordi
diplomatically dissuaded Franchetti from setting it to music,
which left Puccini free to compose the opera with Illica as
librettist.
Although Puccini had to interrupt his work
for trips abroad to supervise rehearsals and be present at
performances of "Manon Lescaut" and "La Bohème",
he continued the composition, including going to Rome to listen
to the church bells in the early morning, talking to priests
about details of the liturgy of the "Te Deum", and
consulting Luigi Zanazzo, poet and librarian, for the lines
of the shepherd's song. The premiere was successful, and like
"Manon Lescaut" and "La Bohème",
this piece became one of the best-known operas in the repertory
of the major opera houses of the world.
David Belasco's play "Madama Butterfly"
left a deep impression on Puccini when he saw it in London,
1900, although the composer didn't understand English. The
following year Puccini sent an Italian translation of the
story to Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa with whom he convinced
Ricordi to undertake this project. The work was complicated
by Giacosa's health problems in May 1901 and the automobile
accident in which Puccini was involved on February 25, 1903.
The maestro was confined to a wheel chair for 8 months and
then he was diagnosed with diabetes, from which he would never
completely recover. However, Puccini returned to composing
as soon as he could. In the course of composition, he became
more and more interested in all about Japan, including discussed
with the wife of the Japanese ambassador about the authentic
motives of Japanese folk songs, and consulted Japanese actresses
on tour in Milan about the details of Butterfly's behavior.
Nevertheless, the première did not
enjoy the success that Puccini expected. It was a fiasco.
Puccini said: "It was a real lynching. Those cannibals
didn't listen to one note. What a horrible orgy of madmen,
drunk with hate! But my Butterfly will not die. It is the
most deeply felt and imaginative opera I have yet conceived."
Immediately Puccini and his librettists started
working and revising the whole opera. The second act was divided
into two parts and some details were eliminated from the first
one. The revised version was a great success.
When Puccini arrived in Argentina in 1905,
he was not the struggling young artist with the foolish idea
of emigrating to escape poverty, but rather a famous and successful
maestro who would soon be present at performances of his five
operas - "Edgar", "Manon Lescaut", La
Bohème", "Madama Butterfly" and "Tosca"
- under the musical direction of Leopoldo Mugnone and Arturo
Toscanini.
One of the reasons for the silence of six
years between the premières of "Madama Butterfly"
and "La Fanciulla del West" was the death of a servant
girl named Doria Manfredi. The friendship which developed
between the composer and this girl led to rumors in the village
and incited his wife's jealousy. At last, the maestro went
away to Rome, supposedly for musical reasons. A short time
after his departure, on January 28th 1909, Doria committed
suicide by taking poison. The post mortem examination certified
her virginity. Thereupon Elvira, Mrs. Puccini, was condemned
to prison for several months for libel and the couple was
fined a large sum for damages and injury.
Puccini, Toscanini, David Belasco, and Guilio Gatti
Casazzo
When Puccini went to America in 1907 to attend
the rehearsals and premières of his four operas at
the Metropolitan Opera, he was looking for a new subject for
his next opera and took the opportunity to see several plays
while staying in New York, including three by David Belasco.
One was "Madama Butterfly" and the other was "La
Fancuilla del West". The history of the West impressed
him, and after his friend Sybil Seligman had translated the
play into Italian, he decided to use it as the basis for his
new opera. At that time, one of his old librettists, Giuseppe
Giacosa, had died, and conflicts with the other, Luigi Illica,
led him to engage a new collaborator, Carlo Zangarini. Nevertheless,
Zangarini completed only two acts and Puccini had to seek
help from Guelfo Civinini, who wrote the third act according
to the composer's suggestions and revised all that Zangarini
had written. The orchestration was finished in July, 1910,
and Puccini and his son, Tonio, sailed to New York for the
première, which was a great success. The music of "La
Fanciulla del West" is the most progressive and most
modern that Puccini had written. Within a short time, the
opera was premiered in Chicago, Baltimore, Philadelphia, etc.
and was performed at the Met in the following three seasons.
1912 was a sad year for Puccini. The publisher,
Giulio Ricordi, who had encouraged and promoted his opera
career, died. Puccini’s favorite sister, Ramelda, also
died the same year.
Since Offenbach, all composers have tried,
at least once, to summon the joyful muse and have attempted
an operetta. In truth, Puccini didn't want to compose just
an operetta, but a tragic operetta. He said in a letter "I
still want to make the audience cry." In the autumn of
1913 Puccini accepted a commission for an operetta from the
directors of the Vienna Karltheater. The result was "La
Rondine", and it was called "Commedia Lirica",
a light-hearted work, with a conversational tone and lyric
mood. Some consider it the weakest of his operas because of
the lack of the pure Puccinian lyrical melody. The entrance
of Italy to the Alliance in the World War I prevented the
première of "La Rondine" in Vienna. At last,
it was premiered in Monte Carlo in 1917.
The idea of joining various works in an only
one constitute an expression of originality. The beginnings
belong to a slow process to abandon little by little the conservative
world from which Puccini had arisen. "Il Tabarro",
"Suor Angelica" and "Gianni Schicchi"
remain, with all their harsh realism, sentiment and calmness,
a fascinating theatrical idea. For the composer, who started
work on "Il Tabarro" in his 50s and completed the
project happily with "Gianni Schicchi" in his 60s,
this opera represented an important expression of his art.
The première took place in New York
because the majority of the artists in Italy were in military
service, and operatic life suffered because of this. How he
wished that his opera could have been premiered "at home"!
He could not travel to the United States, since travel in
Europe was dangerous because of mines, and it was also difficult
to get a visa. In spite of the absence of the composer, the
premiere of "Il Trittico" was a triumphant success,
especially "Gianni Schicchi".
During the two years after "Il Trittico",
Puccini could not find a subject for a new opera. Various
projects were considered. He began setting to music "Christopher
Sly" by Giovacchino Forzano, but then gave it up. This
desperate situation changed when a conversation turned to
"Turandot" during a lunch with Giuseppe Adami, the
librettist of "La Rondine" and "Il Tabarro",
and Renato Simoni, who had adapted it for the stage. Puccini
started working with his librettists, created characters with
humanity and deep psychology, and also retained the "Commedia
dell'Arte" in the three masks: Ping, Pang, Pong.
The composer began the first act on January
1st 1921, and completed the orchestration in November 1922.
While he was working on the orchestration of the second act
at the end of 1923, pains in his throat and persistent coughs
began to give him trouble. However, the maestro decided to
ignore it. In February 1924 he completed the second act. During
the following months he worked fast on the orchestration of
the third act up to the death of Liù. When the pains
were more and more intense, Puccini decided consulting doctors.
At first the diagnosis was rheumatic inflammation of the throat.
In the autumn of 1924, Puccini began working with Toscanini,
who was to be the conductor of the première.
Nevertheless, the two scenes beyond Liù's death were
not written, because Puccini wanted to await the definite
text of the duet of Turandot and Calaf to compose the transformation
of Turandot's personality. On October 8th 1924, two days before
he was diagnosed as having throat cancer, the disease that
killed him a few weeks laterPuccini accepted, at last, Adami's
fourth version of the text of the duet. The composer was sent
to a clinic in Brussels on November 4th. There, he continued
to work on "Turandot". He was operated on the 24th
of the same month, but five days later, he died of heart failure.
When the maestro died on November 29th 1924,
he left many pages of drafts for duet and the last scenes
of Turandot. Toscanini wanted Riccardo Zandonai to complete
this opera, but Puccini's son Tonio objected because he thought
Zandonai was too famous. Finally they entrusted it to Franco
Alfano who completed the opera six months later.
On the night of the première, after
Liù's death when the chorus sang, "Liù,
bontà perdona! Liù, docezza, dormi! Oblia! Liù!
Poesia!", Toscanini laid down his baton, while the curtain
was lowered slowly, and faced the audience with the words
"Here ends the opera, because at this point the Maestro
died".
The version that Alfano completed was given
at the second performance. After Puccini's death, the question
of whether "Turandot" should be performed as an
incomplete opera or in Alfano's version was still undecided.
Two years after his death, Puccini’s
remains were moved to the village of Torre del Lago, where
the Puccini museum now stands.
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