Giacomo Puccini of Tuscany, Italy
Puccini Ranks With Great Composers like Mozart, Verdi and Wagner
Puccini was a composer internationally recognised as enduringly popular. In Tuscany, an annual festival is held in his honour.
In 2008, the popular Puccini annual festival will be the 54th FESTIVAL SEASON held at the Vacation Tuscany -Toscana – Italy.
The History
Giacomo Puccini was born in the province of Lucca in Tuscany, Italy on 22nd December 1858. He was born into a family with a long tradition in music. Puccini lived in the village of Torre del Lago.
According to this prestigious Festival Website, Puccini started his musical career at the age of 14 as an organist at Lucca’s churches of St. Martino and St. Michele.
The composer became obsessed with opera and broke away from family tradition of church music to pursue operatic composition. To allow his education, Puccini received financial aid from one of his uncles and a scholarship from Queen Margherita. He attended at the Royal Conservatory of Milan, from1880 until 1883 under the mentoring of the legendary Amilcare Ponchielli, the composer of La Gioconda and Antonio Bazzini.
In 1883 publisher Eduardo Sonzagno called for the submission of one-act operas; the winner would be awarded 2000 lira. This would give the winner a chance to perform his opera at a theater in Milan. Although Puccini's opera Le Villi did not win, it marked the beginning of his career in operatic composition.
Enduring Popularity
Cornerstones America lists and gives information about the 20 most performed operas in North America, with Puccini's Madama Butterfly as the number one ranked opera and La Bohème as number two in popularity.
It is interesting to think about why his operas have remained so enduring and so everlastingly popular. Based on tragic love stories, the romances are intricately woven around thwarted love, human struggles and tragic circumstance. Perhaps these "love struck," heartbreaking tales are the kinds of stories that will always capture the imagination and hold the interest of audiences in spell bound rapture. An engaged audience is likely to listen intently while the musical intricacies play out their mastery and innovative expression.
La Bohème is considered by some to be his best work, and Tosca and Madama Butterfly continue to capture the hearts of international audience and connoisseurs.
His Personal Relationship To His Music
Puccini understood tragedy and reflected emotion because of his own painful experiences. On the Festival Website it is said, “his career probably would have reached greater heights if it were not for his wife who falsely accused their maid of having an affair with him. The poor girl committed suicide.”
Puccini it seems experienced loss and suffering and through these experiences. This would have helped him to understand how it felt to be trapped within despair. The authenticity was to continue to resonate with the feelings of the audience. He never completely recovered from his own loss. In November 1924, Puccini died and was buried at the Torre del Lago.
One can only speculate about why Puccini’s protagonists were women and why his operas tended towards tragedy. Is it this inclination towards the expression of tragedy, despair and sensuality that gives his who such depth and emotional charge?
International Acclaim
History would indicate that this is so. Puccini ranks among the greatest composers like Mozart, Verdi and Wagner.
The International popularity of Puccini is evident when one considers the Japanese love for the opera Madam Butterfly. It is interesting to note that Dame Nellie Melba starred as Mimi in La Bohème at Covent Garden. La Bohème is to be showcased throughout 2008 at the Sydney Opera House in Australia. This is at the same time, as Puccini’s work will be performed across the world in Tuscany at the Italian Festival.
