The last one of a dynasty of musicians
Life
Giacomo Puccini was born in Lucca on 22 December, 1858, the last of a dynasty of composers who for more than a century held a virtual monopoly of the city’s musical life. In his early years he grew up with six sisters and a brother in the house of Corte S. Lorenzo, receiving his very first music lessons from his father Michele, before his untimely death in 1864. In 1868 Puccini enrolled in the violin class at the “G. Pacini” Institute of Music, a school renown even outside Lucca, where he continued his studies, later passing to the composition class, where his teacher was Carlo Angeloni. His first compositions came to life in Lucca, including the Mass for 4 voices, his graduation piece written in 1880.
1880-1889
1880-1889
“I will send you the Edgar, le Villi and Crisantemi, composition for quartet performed by Campanari with great success at the Conservatory and in Brescia”
THE YEARS OF TRAINING IN MILAN AND HIS FIRST WORKS
From 1880 to 1883 Puccini attended the Milan Conservatory, where, among others, Antonio Bazzini and Amilcare Ponchielli were his teachers. Determined to be only a composer and not a teacher or interpreter of music, he composed his first opera, immediately after the final exam at the conservatory. With Le Villi he took part – unsuccessfully – in the Sonzogno Competition for one-act operas. Some friends still managed to organize a first performance of the work in 1884, and this was how Giulio Ricordi, the most important Italian music publisher, first noticed Puccini. He not only inserted Le Villi in the catalogue of his publishing house, but commissioned a second opera from Puccini, Edgar. The composition was very long and laborious, but the premiere, in 1889, was sadly unsuccessful.
1886-1893
1886-1893
“I will leave at one with Elvira for Venice – Trieste – Fiume where I will be attending Manon – Budapest – Vienna and viceversa”
THE LOVE FOR ELVIRA AND THE FIRST SUCCESS
Meanwhile Puccini had fallen in love with a married woman, Elvira Bonturi, who abandoned her husband for him in 1886. Only in 1904, after the death of Elvira’s first husband, the two were able to legalize their living together and legitimize their son Antonio, who had already attained the age of 17. In the early years of their relationship the small family lived in difficult financial conditions in several rented houses, sometimes even guests of relatives, separated from each other. It was only thanks to the increasing success of his third opera, 𝘔𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘯 𝘓𝘦𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘵 (1893), that Puccini was able to create a solid economic base for himself and his family.
1896-1904
1896-1904
“yesterday night our boheme triumphed three encores 35 stage calls warm greetings – Giacomo”
INTERNATIONAL RECOGNITION
In 1896, with La bohème, he achieved even greater success which soon reached an international level and with Tosca (1900) he became the most famous composer of his times. He reaped good earnings, purchased two buildings in Torre del Lago and Chiatri, a few kilometres from Lucca, and transformed them into two country villas, retaining the ownership until his death.His works appeared on the billboards of the major European theatres, where he often went to assist in the preparation of the stagings.
At the height of success, however, came the fall of 𝙈𝙖𝙙𝙖𝙢𝙖 𝘽𝙪𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙛𝙡𝙮, which was booed during the first performance at the Teatro alla Scala on 17 February 1904. Puccini was forced to withdraw the opera which, with some modifications, debuted again a few months later, on May 25th, at the Teatro Grande in Brescia, finally achieving success with the public and the critics.
The proceeds from the royalties allowed him to cultivate two of his predominant passions: cars (he bought the first – followed by another dozen - in 1902) and, in particular, houses.
After La bohème, at the end of the nineteenth century, Giacomo purchased two houses in Chiatri, a hilly village a few kilometers from Lucca, and in Torre del Lago where he could nurture another of his passions: hunting. For a few years he also owned two holiday homes: one in Boscolungo Abetone and the Torre della Tagliata in Maremma.
1905-1910
1905-1910
“Arrived in southernamerican land I warmly greet the press for the fondness with which my visit is welcomed”
THE TRIPS OVERSEAS
In 1905 Puccini was invited to Argentina in order to attend a real 'Festival' dedicated to his works: the Opera Theater, in fact, staged all Puccini's operas (with the exception of Le Villi) and he was welcomed with all the honors, especially from the Italian community. Two years later, a similar welcome was also given to Puccini in New York, where he went with his wife Elvira supervising his operas. It was on that occasion that Puccini came into contact with the subject for his subsequent opera 𝙇𝙖 𝙛𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙞𝙪𝙡𝙡𝙖 𝙙𝙚𝙡 𝙒𝙚𝙨𝙩 which made its debut in 1910 at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York. For the first time, the premiere of a Puccini opera took place outside Italy, acting as a springboard for the composer’s career within the “New World”. The premiere of La fanciulla del West was in fact a grandiose event, also thanks to the cast which included two great stars of the time: Enrico Caruso and Arturo Toscanini.
1913-1920
1913-1920
“It will not be an operetta but a real comic opera – namely of a much higher calibre”
LA RONDINE, THE TRIPTYCH AND THE WAR YEARS
In 1913 Puccini received a well-paid appointment to write an operetta from a publishing house in Vienna: the result was his next opera, La rondine (1917), which suffered significant difficulties and delays due to the international crisis, shortly to lead to the outbreak of the First World War.Puccini greatly detested war and spent these years working on three single acts, Il Tabarro, Suor Angelica and Gianni Schicchi (The triptych) which premiered shortly after the end of the war in New York in December 1918, without the presence of the composer. Puccini resumed travelling only in 1919 when he went to London, where he came back again in 1920 for the British premiere of The triptych. In 1920 he also went to Vienna for the first performances in german language of La rondine and The triptych. During those years Puccini's operas were performed in many European and American cities, a confirmation of continuity, or rather, an increase in his fame and international success.
Despite this, his works from La fanciulla del West onwards were staged more rarely, even in Italy; evidently the most complex and progressive musical language that characterized them was less appreciated by the public, who tended to prefer the ‘popularity’ of the earlier works, from 𝙈𝒂𝙣𝒐𝙣 𝙇𝒆𝙨𝒄𝙖𝒖𝙩 to 𝙈𝙖𝙙𝙖𝙢𝙖 𝘽𝙪𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙛𝙡𝙮.
1921-1924
1921-1924
“there’s an aria for tenor which I believe will become as popular as Lucean le stelle”
TURANDOT AND THE FINAL YEARS
In 1918 Puccini commissioned the construction a new villa in Viareggio, replacing the one in Torre del Lago as his main residence and moving there in late 1921. In this house he mainly concentrated on his latest opera, Turandot, which he had started to work on in 1920. This task proved to be very problematic and Puccini often considered abandoning the enterprise. This opera had not been completed when the composer, who for years had complained of an insistent sore throat, was diagnosed with a cancer of the larynx. In order to undergo the innovative, experimental treatment of radiotherapy, Puccini went to a specialised clinic in Brussels. He survived the operation only a few days, and died on 29 November 1924. The unfinished Turandot was staged for the first time in 1926 and since then is one of the most frequently performed operas of Puccini.𝐷𝑖𝑒𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑆𝑐ℎ𝑖𝑐𝑘𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔 – september 2011
