Giacomo Puccini
Born in Lucca on December 22, 1858, died in Brussels on November 29, 1924
Giacomo ·Giacomo Puccini has been re-recognized by the public in recent years. No other composer has received such a brilliant honor as him. Throughout his life, Puccini always aroused strong critical response. As the composer of the operas "La boheme" (La boheme), "Tosca" and "Madam Butterfly" (Madam Butterfly), He was embraced by the public but also labeled a sentimentalist and sentimentalist by academics and critics. Puccini soon became a victim of his own reputation as parodies of his musical style appeared in operettas and comic operas that overshadowed the true masterpieces. Once these disadvantages cease to be fashionable, the assessment of a composer's talent will become much easier.
Puccini’s own people’s correct understanding of him also went through a process. His first notable work was not an opera but Capriccio sinfonico, his graduation work at the Milan Conservatoire. He was admitted to the Milan Conservatory of Music when he was 21 years old, which is indeed relatively late at this age. Some comments pointed out that this is a special "symphonic" genius. Admittedly, in Italy at that time, the word "symphony" was not used very casually, and it was often used to refer to large orchestral works. A publisher in Milan once considered commissioning Puccini to compose a classical symphony in four movements. This was a very meaningful thing, but in the end it did not produce results because the composer Puccini was A few years later, he declared: "The Almighty God touched me with His hand and said: 'Create for the stage, and create only for the stage.' Since then, I have been following this highest injunction."
< p>In 1884, Puccini's first opera "Le villi" (Le villi) was performed (this opera was created for a composition competition, but it may have been rejected by the competition jury because of illegible writing) reject). In reviews of this work, the word "symphony" appears again. Among many enthusiastic reviews, Milan's leading music critic Filippo Filippi wrote: "Puccini is basically a symphonic composer, and his music has excessively added extended lines. symphonic material to the detriment of the musical image.” Filippo Filippi’s view is not unique. The elderly Verdi also had this to say in a letter to a friend: "I have listened to the works of the musician Puccini, and they are very good. But the symphonic elements seem to be dominant in his music. It doesn't do much harm, but composers have to be careful. An opera is an opera, and a symphony is a symphony. Adding symphonic content to an opera just to create an orchestral dance effect is not a thing, I think. Good thing." It's impossible to figure out which Puccini piece Verdi was listening to. At that time, "The Dance of the Monsters" won great fame at home and abroad. In 1892, Gustav Mahler conducted a performance of this opera in Hamburg, which was warmly welcomed by the public.Puccini's next opera was "Edgar" created in 1889. The librettist was also the poet who wrote "Dancing Around the Monsters". His pretentiousness did not give the opera Working brings benefits. Neither the first version nor the revised version in 1905 was a success, but Puccini greatly developed his creative personality in its music, and this characteristic lasted throughout his life. In the process of creation; while maintaining his own musical personality, he transplanted the musical materials of young composers of his generation into his own creation, including Debussy, Richard Strauss and Stravinsky. Puccini's "Manon Lescaut" (Manon Lescaut) created in 1893 was a great success. For the only time in his creative career, the Italian press and public showed enthusiastic interest in his work.
The spread of Puccini's operas overseas was relatively slow. In the 1890s, Italian opera was in decline after Verdi stopped writing.
At that time, Pietro Mascagni's Cavalleria rusticana seemed to be regarded as a symbol of Italian opera's revival. When staged in Europe, this work is usually paired with Leoncavallo's Pagliacci. The premiere of Verdi's opera "Falstaff" in 1893 made the theater more noisy than ever. To combat this, Puccini's producers promised that theaters staging Manon Lescaut in the same season would receive a substantial discount on commission fees. For the British Covent Garden Opera House, this was just a commercial strategy. However, the result was that Puccini's opera failed miserably. However, there is one voice defending it, and that is George Bernard Shaw. He wrote in "The World": "In Cavalier Rusticana and Pagliacci I do not detect anything other than the rationalization, condensation, and substitution of Donizetti's operatic music. Something new. But in Manon Lescaut, elements of German music were incorporated into Italian opera, and the scope of Italian opera creation expanded." He went on to point out that in terms of the use of harmony, the composer "had not yet developed it. Showing signs of a dry spell in melody writing, he was able to compose beautiful tunes that old opera fans loved. "Bernard Shaw concluded: "In any case, I think that Puccini is more of a successor to Verdi than anyone else. . "Time has fully proved him correct.
Puccini's next three operas created a growing gap between critical and public reception. The Artist's Life, completed in 1896, was considered by most critics to be unworthy of mention, and even its popularity was temporary. One reporter even said: "We want to know whether Puccini, amid the excitement and cheers, intends to retire." Four years later, the translator of Wagner's "Oper und Drama", Luigi Torchi declares: "Tosca shows that Puccini did not create a unique opera, but that he drew on the whole range of music from Wagner to Massenet." "But Puccini's new opera is still as popular with the public as his previous works. On the opening night of "Madama Butterfly" in 1904, it failed miserably due to a conspiracy created by a rival publisher. Ferruccio Busoni (1866-1924, Italian composer, conductor, pianist - translator) Author's note) left the theater 20 minutes into the first performance, declaring that the work was "out of place". Nonetheless, in the early decades of the 20th century, La Vie, Tosca and Madame Butterfly enjoyed great popularity and enjoyed the same status as Verdi's "Romantic Trilogy" ("Ligolet"). "Il Trovatore", "Il Trovatore" and "La Traviata"), in fact, Verdi's reputation gradually declined after his death, and the public began to admire Puccini's operas, which are often performed throughout the year. The heroine in E.M. Forster's novel "Howards End" (written in 1908) also expressed regret for "Tosca". I believe this represents the will of the general public.
At the same time, a powerful group opposed to Puccini emerged in Italy, led by Alfredo Casella and I. . The organization known as the "Eighties" composed of composers such as Ildebrando Pizzetti and Gian Francesco Malipiero tried to revive traditional Italian instrumental music, because since Sammartini and After the era of Boccherini, Italian instrumental music almost dried up.
The main spokesperson of this group was Fausto Torrefranca, who published a pamphlet called Giacomo Puccini e l'opera internazionale (Giacomo Puccini e l'opera internazionale) in 1912, attacking Puccini as an Incompetent craftsmen and self-interested businessmen are, in short, betrayers of the traditional music of the motherland. Torrefranca later described the pamphlet as "the sin of youth," but it also forced Puccini to think more carefully about his artistic endeavors.
In fact, Puccini did not need more thinking. After six years of silence, he completed the opera "La fanciulla del West" (La fanciulla del West) in 1910. When attending a performance of his opera at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York, he once declared that he was "tired of Les Artistes, Madama Butterfly and the company." From this point on, Puccini's creations Techniques changed subtly, the opera's lyrical elements gradually diminished, the orchestration became more individual, and the harmonic vocabulary became broader, often wandering in unresolved dissonant chords. At this point, the public began to feel somewhat alienated from his music. Does this mean that Puccini's musical melody is beginning to dry up? Rome's "Il Messaggero" newspaper once made such remarks. Puccini never reacted to unfavorable comments, but he implored the publisher's manager, Carlo Clausetti, to defend him. Clausetti pointed out that from Verdi to Mascagni, these composers were all developing their own creative styles, which was a serious matter of revival and death. Harmony today is different from what it used to be, and so is orchestral orchestration. Puccini once sent the vocal score of the opera to a friend, and he also wrote: "You will be surprised by the use of harmony in "La Western"? Don't be afraid. There are some tonal differences on the piano. There will be strong conflicts in the performance, but it will be much smoother and smoother when played with orchestral music." Even so, "Girl of the West" did not become one of the performed plays until much later. The next work "La rondine" (The Swallow) is considered to be a fusion of opera and operetta. In "Il trittico", Puccini boldly wrote "Gianni Schicchi" (Gianni Schicchi) as a pure comedy for the first time, and the work was immediately popular. For those viewers who loved "Madama Butterfly" but failed to keep up with the composer's progress, they failed to notice that "Il tabarro" (The Jacket), the first of the "triptych", is actually like "The Artist's Life" Just as perfect and refined. The opera "Turandot", which was performed only after Puccini's death, also shocked the world. Because what this work expresses is no longer superficial emotional catharsis. Although Puccini ultimately failed to complete the entire work, he condensed his sympathy for the slave girl Leul in it, marking his excellence and sublimation in creation. The three most frequently performed works by Puccini in the middle period of his creation are still the most frequently performed.
In the period after World War I, there were always forces hostile to Puccini in the academic world. The Englishman Edward Dent did many re-evaluations of Italian music with a rather German tendency. In his 1932 essay, he said that Puccini gave up composing for commercial reasons. What's even more ridiculous is that someone divided Puccini's most beautiful musical melodies into passages about 4 minutes long to fit the length of a single side of a 78-rpm record when phonographs were recorded at that time - as if most music was not available in the past. Such careful design! The treatment Puccini received was simply incredible.
In 1958, Mosco Carner published "Puccini: A Critical Biography", which coincided with the centenary of the composer's birth. The book, now in its third edition, not only provides a first-class commentary on Puccini's art, but also proved to be a new starting point for the extensive study of the composer that followed and was also influential in Italy.
In his discussion, Carner did not use overly exaggerated words. He explained the many factors that make Puccini's operas able to maintain their longevity, including: the perfect combination of text, music and body language; the ever-expanding range of musical vocabulary since Manon Lescaut; the composer's ability to absorb avant-garde musical material of the time while maintaining his own musical style; and the architectural three-dimensionality that underpins the rise and fall of his comedies. What is more important is the composer's recognition of his own limitations. At least two things went against his original intention. One was the appearance of the Virgin Mary at the end of "Suor Angelica", Created a supernatural "miracle", the other thing is that he failed to finally complete "Turandot".
When Puccini's reputation for his music was at its lowest ebb, he received some unexpected praise. His later works were admired by Stravinsky, Ravel, and even Busoni, who had once dismissed Puccini. In 1919, after listening to the performance of "Girl of the West", Anton Webern described it in a letter to his teacher Arnold Schoenberg: " The music from beginning to end is creative, beautiful, and every measure is amazing...no trace of shoddy work...I have to say, I really appreciate it...Am I wrong?" He was so apologetic. no need. Schoenberg believed that Puccini was "a master" and as a musician, he was in many ways better than Verdi. Luciano Berio, an important contemporary Italian composer, believes that a new ending should be rewritten for "Turandot" based on a more in-depth study of Puccini's drafts, while Franco Alfano "Turandot", which was continued when the composer died, is not enough to express its true value. If those who are resistant to Puccini's music can trace back from his last works, they will feel that Puccini's creative process is, like Verdi's, a gradual development. A complete organism, every work can directly resonate with the audience. For practicing musicians, there is a very simple way to learn, and that is to work hard on the score, which will undoubtedly make them masters of playing the roles of Puccini's operas.
Giacomo Puccini’s life events
1858: Puccini was born in Lucca on December 22. His father was the fourth in his family to serve as the city organ. A teacher and composer. By the age of 14, Giacomo had already become the organist of several churches.
1871: Verdi's opera "Aida" premiered in Cairo. As a teenager, Puccini is said to have walked back and forth from Lucca to Pisa to see the opera. Later he said: "I feel that the window of music has been opened for me."
1880: With the help of Queen Margaret Scholarship, Puccini was able to study at the Milan Conservatoire. His graduation work "Symphony Caprice" was well received. Encouraged by his teacher Ponchielli, he composed his first opera "Dancing Around the Monsters" (1884).
1884: Jules Massenet's Manon is performed in Paris and soon becomes his most popular opera. Puccini composed an opera using the same story a few years later.
1886: Puccini started a family with his lover Elvira Gemignani. Their son Antonio was born in 1886. But they did not officially marry until 18 years later, after the death of Elvira's estranged husband.
1888: Giulio Ricordi became the boss of the reestablished Italian publishing company. He spared no effort to cultivate Puccini and became the composer's mentor and artistic advisor until his death in 1912.
1889: "Cavalier rustica" written by Puccini's student roommate Pietro Mascagni won first place in an opera composition competition sponsored by the Italian publisher Sonzonio .
1893: Puccini's first mature opera "Manon Lesco" was performed at the Regio Theater in Turin and was a great success. His next opera, The Artist's Life (1896), was also performed here and established his status.
The picture on the left is a caricature of Puccini with Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa, two playwrights from The Artist's Life.
1894: Inspired by the natural world, "New Art" influenced visual art across Europe with its sense of decadence and curvaceous beauty. Galileo Chini's ceramic design represents the Italian "free form" style, and he also served as the stage designer for "Turandot" in the 1920s.
1900: In the opera "Tosca", Puccini combined the "classical style" of the time with a similar "leading motive" expression technique influenced by Wagner, creating a violent and An eye-catching dramatic work with a cruel ending.
1902: David Belasco's play "Madame Butterfly" (written in 1900) was successfully performed, and based on this, the Belasco Theater in New York opened. His play "Girl of the West" also premiered here in 1905. Both plays were later composed into operas by Puccini.
1903: American engineer Henry Ford founded his automobile company and pioneered the assembly line method of mass production. Puccini loved "fast" cars. In 1903, he suffered a broken leg in a car accident and was left disabled.
1909: Elvira accuses her unfaithful husband of having an affair with maid Doria Manfredi (this time may not be true). Her unreasonable persistence forced Doria to commit suicide by taking poison.
1910: After another tragic heroine in Madama Butterfly (1904), Puccini's next opera turned to the happy ending of the Californian story La West "Girl". The opera was a huge success when it premiered in New York.
1915: Italy joins the Allies in World War I. Puccini, who claimed to be a Germanophile, was writing "Swallow" for the Karl Theater in Vienna. His neutrality on political matters angered many friends and colleagues.
1924: On November 29, Puccini died of a sudden heart attack. His last opera, "Turandot", had not yet been completed. Pictured on the left is Puccini's statue in Lucca.
The main characteristics of Puccini’s music
A visual composer
Puccini’s music can always inspire visual effects in the audience, such as using Paris The gate of the city represents a bleak winter dawn, or the calmness of the monastery is represented by the singing of birds and the fragrance of flowers.
Use of Harmony
Puccini’s main feature in the use of harmony may be called “soft dissonance” because it avoids semitone collisions. This helped to incorporate pentatonic scales and whole-tone harmonies into his musical compositions. Another typical feature is the use of interwoven chord repetition as a way to create tension.
Theme reproduction
Puccini is more clever than his contemporary Italian composers in making full use of the orchestra's theme reproduction, which is not just the expression of a musical organism. method, and also supplements the storyline. As the plot progresses, the reappearance of musical themes changes their own meaning.
Textile structure
Puccini often sets two contrasting themes in dramatic presentations, one lively and the other smooth and lyrical. The first act of his operas is often divided into two parts: after a common scene of activities, the focus is on the main characters involved. Most heroines first hear their voice and then meet their person. But Turandot appears first and speaks later, because she is a crucial character in the play.
“Great sorrow in a small soul”
This is what Puccini said when he described his operatic principles to the poet d’Annunzio. He never attempted to scale idealistic, political or spiritual heights. He has been called the immortal Charles Dickens of Italian opera.
CD about Puccini's music
Manon Lescaut
Mirella Freni, Luciano Pavarotti, Dwayne Croft, Guiseppe Taddei,
Ramon Vargas, Cecilia Bartoli;
Metropolitan Opera Chorus and Orchestra/
James Levine
Decca 440 200-2 (two records)
Artist career
Leontina Baduva, Roberto Alagna, Ruth Ann Swenson, Thomas Hampson,
Simon Keenlyside, Samuel Ramey;
London Voices, Philharmonic Orchestra/
Antonio Pappano
EMI 5 56120 2 (two discs)
Toss Card
Maria Callas, Giuseppe di Stefano, Dito Goppi;
Chorus and Orchestra of La Scala, Milan/
< p>Victor de SabataEMI 5 67756 2 (two records)
Madame Butterfly
Renata Scotto, Anna di Stasio, Silvana Padoan ,
Carlo Bergonzi, Rolando Panerai;
Rome Opera Chorus and Orchestra/
John Barbirolli
EMI 5 67885 2 (two discs)
Girl of the West
Renata Tebaldi, Mario del Monaco,
Cornell MacNeil, Giorgio Tozzi;
< p>Choir and Orchestra of the Academy of Santa Cecilia in Rome/Frank Capuana
Decca 421 595-2 (two discs)
Turandot
Joan Sutherland, Luciano Pavarotti,
Montserrat Cavalie, Nicola Giaou Rove,
Peter Pears;
John Alldis Choir, London Philharmonic Orchestra/
Zubin Mehta
Decca 414 274-2 (two discs)
Books about Puccini
Puccini and his International Art
By Michele Girardi, Translated by Laura Basani
University of Chicago Press, 2000
Puccini Biography
Written by Mary Jane Phillips-Matz
Northeast University Press, published in 2002
The Life and Works of Puccini
By Julian Budden
Oxford University Press, published in 2003