Giacomo Puccini

Italian opera composer

• Born: December 22, 1858
• Birthplace: Lucca, Tuscany, Italy
• Died: November 29, 1924
• Place of death: Brussels, Belgium

Born into a Tuscan family with almost a dynastic tradition in musical composition and instruction, Puccini became a leading member of a talented group of Italian composers of opera in the generation succeeding Giuseppe Verdi. Many of Puccini’s operatic works proved to be among the most popular in the twentieth century operatic repertory.

Early Life

Tradition and expectation are reflected in the names given the fifth child of Michele Puccini and Albina Puccini: Giacomo Puccini (ZHYAH-koh-moh pew-CHEE-nee). The child’s great-great-grandfather, Giacomo Puccini, had studied music at Bologna, then returned to Lucca to become organist and choirmaster at this Tuscan city’s cathedral (San Martino) and prolific composer of sacred and civic music. His son Antonio also studied at Bologna, returned to Lucca to compose sacred music and assist, then succeed, his father as choirmaster. His son Domenico followed study at Bologna with a musical apprenticeship at Naples (under the operatic composer Giovanni Paisiello), then returned to Lucca to assist his father and compose an occasional opera. Domenico’s son Michele studied music first at Lucca with his father, then at Bologna with a contemporary master of opera, Gaetano Donizetti, and at Naples with Giuseppe Mercadante, composer of operatic and choral music. Michele then became choirmaster and organist at San Martino and wrote an opera on a historical theme (1884) and texts on counterpoint and harmony.

The child Giacomo was therefore expected to study music, and his skill was such and the family tradition so strong that at his father’s death (1864), the Luccan authorities reserved the post of organist and choirmaster until the eight-year-old Giacomo should come of age. By age fourteen, Giacomo was sufficiently adept to become organist at San Martino and other local churches. He was also pianist for several nearby resorts, taverns, and (some said) a brothel. Additional funds came from the sale of organ pipes that he and his friends stole from churches.

Meanwhile, Puccini continued musical studies with his father’s sometime pupils, then entered the local musical academy. There he studied Verdi’s operas a performance of Verdi’s Aida (1876) in nearby Pisa inspired in Puccini a vow of composing opera himself and composed minor orchestral and choral works. His final exercise, a Mass of Glory (1880), was performed amid praise for the young musician’s skillful writing for chorus and solo voices. With a relative’s aid and a royal scholarship, Puccini, in the fall of 1880, commenced advanced study at the Milan Conservatory. There his work was directed by a leading operatic composer, Amilcare Ponchielli. In July, 1883, Puccini was graduated with the performance of his Capriccio sinfonico, which was praised for its orchestration and melody. Now Puccini would compose an opera.

Life’s Work

Puccini’s first opera, Le Villi , with a libretto by the dramatist Ferdinando Fontana, used a story that Adolphe Adam had already exploited for his popular ballet Giselle (1841): A peasant girl’s spirit haunts the lover who abandoned her. Puccini submitted his work for a Milanese competition and was rebuffed, primarily because his score was illegible. Yet the respected composer Arrigo Boito heard Puccini play his score at the piano, promptly raised funds for a production, and convinced the Milanese editorial firm of Ricordi to publish the opera. Le Villi was performed to great acclaim at the Teatro dal Verme in Milan on May 31, 1884.

Sorrow, scandal, and defeat followed. Puccini’s mother died in the summer of 1884; shortly thereafter, he eloped from Lucca with Elvira Bonturi Gemignani, who was already married, with two children. (She would not marry Puccini until her husband’s death in 1903.) In January, 1885, Le Villi was poorly received in Naples and at La Scala, the premier Milanese opera house.

Puccini and Elvira lived in poverty in Milan for the next several years, supported by a stipend from Ricordi, their difficulties compounded by the birth of a son, Antonio, in 1886. Puccini’s second opera, Edgar, with a libretto by Fontana, intentionally resembled Georges Bizet’s popular Carmen (1875). Yet while Puccini’s score was pleasant, the drama (a fourteenth century youth is seduced by a Gypsy girl) was dull. A lukewarm reception greeted the premiere at La Scala on April 21, 1889.

Encouraged by Ricordi, Puccini had started yet another opera on an unpromising subject. Abbé Prévost’s novel Histoire du chevalier des Grieux et de Manon Lescaut (1731, 1733, 1753; Manon Lescaut, 1734, 1786) had already been the subject of at least three operas, including Jules Massenet’s great Parisian success, Manon (1884). Puccini’s opera had a difficult birth, requiring several librettists. The result was an incoherent plot overwhelmed by music of great passion and memorable melody. The premiere, at the Royal Theater of Turin, February 1, 1893, was a popular success.

Manon Lescaut provided financial freedom. Puccini acquired a villa at Torre del Lago, by a scenic lake between Pisa and Lucca, where he would compose and, for relaxation, hunt wild fowl. In March, 1893, Puccini learned that a rival, Ruggiero Leoncavallo, planned an opera based on Henri Murger’s novel and play, Scènes de la vie de bohème (1847-1849). Puccini hastened to complete his opera on the same subject, choosing as librettists the noted playwrights Giuseppe Giacosa and Luigi Illica. Both had worked on Manon Lescaut and both would collaborate on Puccini’s next two operas. La Bohème had a favorable premiere at Turin on February 1, 1896, with a conductor, Arturo Toscanini, who commenced a lifelong friendship with Puccini. Critics noted the trivial plot, but all were impressed by this work’s drama and powerful music, especially in the heroine’s death scene.

Puccini had long been interested in an opera based on Victorien Sardou’s play La Tosca (1887; English translation, 1925), as popularized by the French actress Sarah Bernhardt. Ricordi acquired the rights to the play, arbitrated quarrels among librettists and composer, and urged completion. Puccini’s version of this melodrama set in Rome, 1800, was presented at Rome’s Teatro Costanzi, January 14, 1900 and for twenty more performances. Critics have often deplored the plot of Tosca, “that shabby little shocker,” but none denies the dramatic tension imparted by Puccini’s music.

From a factual magazine article by John Luther Long, the American impresario David Belasco produced a popular play (1904) about a Japanese woman’s love betrayed by an American naval officer. Puccini saw the play in London, was fascinated by the exotic setting, and his version, Madama Butterfly , first appeared at La Scala on February 17, 1904. The critical reception was devastatingly negative (Toscanini hated the opera), but it has become Puccini’s most popular. Meanwhile, Puccini’s own life came to resemble a melodrama. His constant womanizing drove Elvira to jealous rages; she, in turn, drove Puccini’s servant girl to suicide tragically, for the girl was innocent of dallying with Puccini. The composer could focus on no project, until 1907, when he saw in New York another Belasco play, The Girl of the Golden West (1905). Puccini’s version, Fanciulla , with libretto by Guelfo Civinini, was presented first at the New York Metropolitan Opera, with Toscanini conducting, December 10, 1910. Technically perfect, the opera was well, but not enthusiastically, received. Igor Stravinsky described it as “a remarkably up-to-date television horse opera,” without noting that the plot was far from common in 1910.

Puccini’s earlier operas had now become widely popular, frequently performed in Italy, elsewhere in Europe, and in North and South America. Puccini convinced himself that he should now compose a romantic opera similar to the popular operettas of Franz Lehár. A new librettist, Giuseppe Adami, assisted the completion of La Rondine (the swallow). Puccini intended a premiere in Lehár’s city, Vienna, but World War I interfered. This slight work was staged to modest acclaim in Monte Carlo, March 27, 1917, and has never been popular. Puccini was already busy with a plan to render in opera the scheme of the French Grand Guignol: a tragedy, a sentimental drama, a comedy. Librettists were found: Adami (again) and G. Forzano. Il Trittico (the triptych) was staged in New York, December 14, 1918. The first two episodes Il Tabarro (the cloak), a horrific tragedy, and Suor Angelica (Sister Angelica), a miraculous tale with a heroine bearing some resemblance to Puccini’s sister, Mother Superior Iginia were poorly received. The third, Gianni Schicchi , a black comedy based on Dante’s Inferno (canto 30), was popular. All three episodes have magnificent arias for the female voice. Critics have come to appreciate Puccini’s dramatic and musical skill in constructing this complex work.

Puccini chose as his next subject a drama by the Venetian playwright Carlo Gozzi: a bloody, romantic fairy tale set in exotic China. The librettists Renato Simoni and Adami set to work. Puccini composed, while complaining of throat pains. In the autumn of 1924, cancer of the throat was diagnosed. Puccini, accompanied by his son, went to Brussels for radioactive therapy. The treatment seemed successful, but a heart attack brought death on November 29. The body was returned to Milan for temporary burial in the Toscanini family tomb. On the day of national mourning, Benito Mussolini delivered the obituary. In 1926, Puccini was interred at Torre del Lago.

Toscanini conducted the premiere of the unfinished Turandot at La Scala on April 25, 1926. When he reached the end of Puccini’s score, Toscanini turned to the audience, said, “Here ends the opera, which remains incomplete because of the composer’s death,” and left the stage in silence.

Significance

Turandot was completed from Giacomo Puccini’s notes by Franco Alfano and forms part of the standard operatic repertory, as does Manon Lescaut. La Bohème, Tosca, and Madama Butterfly have become favorites with American and European audiences. Fanciulla and Il Trittico are occasionally presented as curiosities, the latter often to critical acclaim.

Contemporary and later critics debated whether Puccini was the true heir of Verdi. He was not. Puccini’s plots lacked the heroic and nationalistic themes that Verdi favored; Puccini was an exponent of opera verismo: human characters caught in more or less realistic situations. Indeed, Puccini’s best vocal writing was consistently for the vulnerable woman caught in plausible tragic circumstances. Furthermore, the springs of Puccini’s music were not fed by Verdi. His skillful orchestral harmonies and lyrical choral passages came from experience, education, and family tradition. Contemporary composers also contributed to Puccini’s craft: From Fanciulla on, the influence of Claude Debussy and Richard Strauss is apparent, while Stravinskian rhythms enhance Turandot. Above all, Puccini learned from Richard Wagner: The continuous melodic line (constant musical background) in Puccini’s operas derives from Wagner’s Tristan and Isolde. Puccini’s strong theatrical sense owes something to Wagner’s music-dramas, as does Puccini’s careful attempt to fit music to words hence the great emotive power of his music, which often seems to drive his characters to a desired action. Critics said that a craftsman’s operatic music should reflect, not force, the characters’ actions. The emotive power of Puccini’s music is so strong that his melodies have been appropriated for everything from film soundtracks to television commercials.

Bibliography

Ashbrook, William. The Operas of Puccini. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 1985. A detailed discussion of the composition, structure, and production of each opera, set within the framework of a biography. Includes notes, a bibliography, an excellent index, and full summaries of each opera.

Budden, Julian. Puccini: His Life and Works. New York: Oxford University Press, 2002. Budden, a scholar of Italian opera, chronicles Puccini’s life and analyzes his compositions. A separate chapter is devoted to each opera with information about characters, plot, and critical reception.

Carner, Mosco. “Giacomo Puccini.” In The New Grove Masters of Italian Opera, edited by Philip Gosset et al. New York: W. W. Norton, 1983. This is an excellent, brief monograph distilled from the work listed below. Part 1 is a brief biography; part 2 discusses (thematically, not by opera) Puccini’s music. Includes photographs of Puccini, a bibliography, an index, and a detailed chronology of Puccini’s musical works.

‗‗‗‗‗‗‗. Puccini: A Critical Biography. 2d ed. New York: Holmes & Meier, 1977. The standard scholarly discussion, with separate sections on biography, Puccini the artist, and detailed musicological treatment of his works. Includes full reference notes, a bibliography, a detailed index, and selected illustrations, primarily of Puccini and his family.

Marek, George R. Puccini. London: Cassell, 1952. An anecdotal biography incorporating substantial material from letters by, to, and about the composer. The other biographies listed here offer a more sophisticated discussion of Puccini’s music. Contains an excellent index and selected illustrations of Puccini and his associates.

Mordden, Ethan. Opera Anecdotes. New York: Oxford University Press, 1985. A humorous book with a wealth of reliable information. Mordden supplies serious and sound introductory essays to the subjects and personalities treated. Contains an index.

Osborne, Charles. The Complete Operas of Puccini. New York: Atheneum, 1982. Similar to the work by Ashbrook, but written with a lighter touch, this biography is organized as background to a discussion of each opera in chronological order. Osborne stresses Puccini’s works as musical theater. Contains a brief bibliography, an index, and selected illustrations of items (scores, sets, and the like) pertinent to Puccini’s life and work.

Phillips-Matz, Mary Jane. Puccini: A Biography. Boston: Northeastern University Press, 2002. A thorough chronicle of Puccini’s life and work, based on many new documents, letters and other materials.

Specht, Richard. Giacomo Puccini: The Man, His Life, His Work. Translated by Catherine Alison Phillips. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1933. A personal assessment of Puccini’s work by one who knew the composer (but not well). Specht’s study reflects the ambiguity that contemporary Europeans felt concerning Puccini’s life, personality, and musical tastes. The index is inadequate and the few illustrations are poorly reproduced.

Weaver, William. Puccini: The Man and His Music. New York: E. P. Dutton, 1977. A superb collection of photographs of Puccini, his family, friends and associates, and productions (mostly at the Metropolitan Opera) of his operas. The text should be supplemented by Carner’s essay. Contains plot summaries of the operas and a brief bibliography.