Biography: Giacomo Puccini

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Biography: Giacomo Puccini Born Dec. 22, 1858 in Lucca, Italy; died Nov. 29, 1924 in Brussels, Belgium Puccini was born into a family that had been providing There was a long break before his next premiere, partly due organists and composers to the city of Lucca for four to a tragedy in his domestic life. Puccini had begun living generations. Following the family tradition, he started with a married woman, Elvira Gemignani, only able to marry work as a professional organist at the age of 14. Fate her himself when her first husband died. Their marriage changed his career path when at the age of 18 he was was not an easy one and eventually Elvira accused inspired to pursue studies in operatic composition after Puccini of having an affair with a servant girl. The tension attending a performance of Verdi’s Aida. In 1880 Puccini in the household became intolerable and the servant girl began his studies at the Milan Conservatory where he committed suicide. A court case determined that she had was surrounded by compositional geniuses: one of his not had an affair with Puccini, and Elvira was jailed for five instructors was Amilcare Ponchielli (composer of the months. The resulting publicity caused Puccini to withdraw opera La Gioconda, 1876). He and Ponchielli shared for a while and also separate from his wife. They later accommodations with Pietro Mascagni (composer of reconciled but their marriage was damaged permanently. the opera Cavalleria Rusticana, 1890). In 1882 Puccini entered his first opera Le villi (The Witches) into a Inspired early in his career by Verdi and Wagner, Puccini competition run by the publishing firm of Sonzogno. It began to explore new composing territory with La fanciulla didn’t win but it garnered the attention of the publisher del West (which premiered at the Metropolitan Opera in Giulio Ricordi, with whom Puccini was to enjoy a lifelong New York in 1910). This shift in style, which involved more association. innovative and challenging orchestration and harmonies, alluded to Debussy and Strauss and silenced some of his Puccini’s first great success was Manon Lescaut, which critics who considered him incapable of artistic growth. premiered in Turin in 1893. The collaboration between Now he was hailed as the true heir of Verdi. Puccini and his librettists, Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa, was responsible for three of the most successful While working on La Rondine (1917) with librettist operas of all time: La Bohème (1896), Tosca (1900) and Giuseppe Adami, Puccini began composing his collection Madama Butterfly (1904). Audiences to this day love of three one-act operas (Il trittico), which comprised Il Puccini’s soaring impassioned orchestrations, dramatic tabarro (again with Adami), Suor Angelica and Gianni intensity and beautiful melodies. Schicchi. Puccini’s last work, Turandot, was unfinished when the composer died after a battle with throat cancer. This last work is usually performed today with the ending written by Franco Alfano. Canadian Opera Company ~ Education and Outreach ~ La Bohème Study Guide 2008/2009 ~ coc.ca ~ 416-306-2307.

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10-12-2019 Turandot Mat.Indd
Synopsis Act I Legendary Peking. Outside the Imperial Palace, a mandarin reads an edict to the crowd: Any prince seeking to marry Princess Turandot must answer three riddles. If he fails, he will die. The most recent suitor, the Prince of Persia, is to be executed at the moon’s rising. Among the onlookers are the slave girl Liù, her aged master, and the young Calàf, who recognizes the old man as his long-lost father, Timur, vanquished King of Tartary. Only Liù has remained faithful to the king, and when Calàf asks her why, she replies that once, long ago, Calàf smiled at her. The mob cries for blood but greets the rising moon with a sudden fearful reverence. As the Prince of Persia goes to his death, the crowd calls upon the princess to spare him. Turandot appears in her palace and wordlessly orders the execution to proceed. Transfixed by the beauty of the unattainable princess, Calàf decides to win her, to the horror of Liù and Timur. Three ministers of state, Ping, Pang, and Pong, appear and also try to discourage him, but Calàf is unmoved. He reassures Liù, then strikes the gong that announces a new suitor. Act II Within their private apartments, Ping, Pang, and Pong lament Turandot’s bloody reign, hoping that love will conquer her and restore peace. Their thoughts wander to their peaceful country homes, but the noise of the crowd gathering to witness the riddle challenge calls them back to reality. In the royal throne room, the old emperor asks Calàf to reconsider, but the young man will not be dissuaded.
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Composers Mascagni and Leoncavallo Biography
Cavalleria Rusticana Composer Biography: Pietro Mascagni Mascagni was an Italian composer born in Livorno on December 7, 1863. His father was a baker and dreamed of a career as a lawyer for his son, but following the good reception obtained by Mascagni’s first compositions was persuaded to allow him to study music at the Milan Conservatoire, where his teachers included Amilcare Ponchielli and Michele Saladino, and where he shared a furnished room with his fellow-student Giacomo Puccini. His first compositions won him financial support to study at the Milan Conservatory. He was of a rebellious nature and intolerant of discipline, and in 1885 he left the Conservatoire to join a modest operetta company as conductor. He became part of the Compagnia Maresca and, together with his future wife, Lina Carbognani, settled in Cerignola (Apulia) in 1886, where he formed a symphony orchestra. Here Mascagni composed at a single stroke, in only two months, the one-act opera Cavalleria rusticana, based on the short story by Verga, which was to win him the first prize in the Second Sonzogno Competition for new operas. The innovative strength of the opera and the resounding worldwide success which followed its first performance (1890, Teatro Costanzi, Rome) marked the beginning of an artistic life rich in achievements and satisfactions, both as composer and as conductor. He became increasingly prominent as a conductor and in 1892 conducted his opera I Rantzau around Europe. Further successes included Amica (1905) and Isabeau (1911), alongside such failures as Le maschere (1901). In 1915 he experimented with writing for cinema in Rapsodia satanicawith Nino Oxilia.
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Milan and Seregno
MILAN AND SEREGNO LIDA EMILIANA MELETAKI VICTORIA MILIARAKI NIKOLETA XENAKI C’3 MILAN Milan is the capital of Lombardy and the second most populous city in Italy after Rome. It is located in the north- western section of the Po Valley, approximately halfway between the river Po to the south and the foothills of the Alps with the great lakes (Lake Como, Lake Maggiore, Lake Lugano) to the north, the Ticino river to the west and the Adda to the east. MUSEUMS Some of the most popular museums are: • Pinacoteca di Brera • The Last Supper • Fondazione Prada • Museo del Novecento • Mudec • Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Milano • Museo Poldi Pezzoli • Villa Necchi Campiglio PINACOTECA DI BRERA FONDAZIONE PRADA MONUMENTS/LANDMARKS Santa Maria delle Grazie This church was built between 1466 and 1490 by Giuniforte Solari and later partly modified by Bramante who re- designed the apse, the Tribuna, the Cloister and the Old Sacristy. In the Refectory there is one of the most famous paintings of Leonardo da Vinci: the “Last Supper”. The works of the fresco started in 1495 and finished in 1498. Monumental Cemetery Carlo Maciachini built the Monumental Cemetery between 1863 and 1866 at Porta Volta. Villa Reale (Royal Villa) One of the most important Milanese neo- classical buildings, the Royal Villa, was built in 1790 by Leopoldo Pollak. It has been the residence of Napolen and Josephine and also of Eugene Beauharnais and the General Radetzky. Pilasters and columns decorate all the building that is surrounded by an English- style garden. The insides are finely decorated with candelabras, sculptures, frescoes and other decorations typical of Lombard neo- classicism.
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Otello Program
GIUSEPPE VERDI otello conductor Opera in four acts Gustavo Dudamel Libretto by Arrigo Boito, based on production Bartlett Sher the play by William Shakespeare set designer Thursday, January 10, 2019 Es Devlin 7:30–10:30 PM costume designer Catherine Zuber Last time this season lighting designer Donald Holder projection designer Luke Halls The production of Otello was made possible by revival stage director Gina Lapinski a generous gift from Jacqueline Desmarais, in memory of Paul G. Desmarais Sr. The revival of this production is made possible by a gift from Rolex general manager Peter Gelb jeanette lerman-neubauer music director Yannick Nézet-Séguin 2018–19 SEASON The 345th Metropolitan Opera performance of GIUSEPPE VERDI’S otello conductor Gustavo Dudamel in order of vocal appearance montano a her ald Jeff Mattsey Kidon Choi** cassio lodovico Alexey Dolgov James Morris iago Željko Lučić roderigo Chad Shelton otello Stuart Skelton desdemona Sonya Yoncheva This performance is being broadcast live on Metropolitan emilia Opera Radio on Jennifer Johnson Cano* SiriusXM channel 75 and streamed at metopera.org. Thursday, January 10, 2019, 7:30–10:30PM KEN HOWARD / MET OPERA Stuart Skelton in Chorus Master Donald Palumbo the title role and Fight Director B. H. Barry Sonya Yoncheva Musical Preparation Dennis Giauque, Howard Watkins*, as Desdemona in Verdi’s Otello J. David Jackson, and Carol Isaac Assistant Stage Directors Shawna Lucey and Paula Williams Stage Band Conductor Gregory Buchalter Prompter Carol Isaac Italian Coach Hemdi Kfir Met Titles Sonya Friedman Children’s Chorus Director Anthony Piccolo Assistant Scenic Designer, Properties Scott Laule Assistant Costume Designers Ryan Park and Wilberth Gonzalez Scenery, properties, and electrical props constructed and painted in Metropolitan Opera Shops Costumes executed by Metropolitan Opera Costume Department; Angels the Costumiers, London; Das Gewand GmbH, Düsseldorf; and Seams Unlimited, Racine, Wisconsin Wigs and Makeup executed by Metropolitan Opera Wig and Makeup Department This production uses strobe effects.
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Ceriani Rowan University Email: [email protected]
Nineteenth-Century Music Review, 14 (2017), pp 211–242. © Cambridge University Press, 2016 doi:10.1017/S1479409816000082 First published online 8 September 2016 Romantic Nostalgia and Wagnerismo During the Age of Verismo: The Case of Alberto Franchetti* Davide Ceriani Rowan University Email: [email protected] The world premiere of Pietro Mascagni’s Cavalleria rusticana on 17 May 1890 immediately became a central event in Italy’s recent operatic history. As contemporary music critic and composer, Francesco D’Arcais, wrote: Maybe for the first time, at least in quite a while, learned people, the audience and the press shared the same opinion on an opera. [Composers] called upon to choose the works to be staged, among those presented for the Sonzogno [opera] competition, immediately picked Mascagni’s Cavalleria rusticana as one of the best; the audience awarded this composer triumphal honours, and the press 1 unanimously praised it to the heavens. D’Arcais acknowledged Mascagni’smeritsbut,inthesamearticle,alsourgedcaution in too enthusiastically festooning the work with critical laurels: the dangers of excessive adulation had already become alarmingly apparent in numerous ill-starred precedents. In the two decades prior to its premiere, several other Italian composers similarly attained outstanding critical and popular success with a single work, but were later unable to emulate their earlier achievements. Among these composers were Filippo Marchetti (Ruy Blas, 1869), Stefano Gobatti (IGoti, 1873), Arrigo Boito (with the revised version of Mefistofele, 1875), Amilcare Ponchielli (La Gioconda, 1876) and Giovanni Bottesini (Ero e Leandro, 1879). Once again, and more than a decade after Bottesini’s one-hit wonder, D’Arcais found himself wondering whether in Mascagni ‘We [Italians] have finally [found] … the legitimate successor to [our] great composers, the person 2 who will perpetuate our musical glory?’ This hoary nationalist interrogative returned in 1890 like an old-fashioned curse.
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La Gioconda (Review) William Ashbrook
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MODELING HEROINES from GIACAMO PUCCINI's OPERAS by Shinobu Yoshida a Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requ
MODELING HEROINES FROM GIACAMO PUCCINI’S OPERAS by Shinobu Yoshida A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Music: Musicology) in The University of Michigan 2011 Doctoral Committee: Associate Professor Naomi A. André, Co-Chair Associate Professor Jason Duane Geary, Co-Chair Associate Professor Mark Allan Clague Assistant Professor Victor Román Mendoza © Shinobu Yoshida All rights reserved 2011 TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES ...........................................................................................................iii LIST OF APPENDECES................................................................................................... iv I. CHAPTER ONE........................................................................................................... 1 INTRODUCTION: PUCCINI, MUSICOLOGY, AND FEMINIST THEORY II. CHAPTER TWO....................................................................................................... 34 MIMÌ AS THE SENTIMENTAL HEROINE III. CHAPTER THREE ................................................................................................. 70 TURANDOT AS FEMME FATALE IV. CHAPTER FOUR ................................................................................................. 112 MINNIE AS NEW WOMAN V. CHAPTER FIVE..................................................................................................... 157 CONCLUSION APPENDICES………………………………………………………………………….162 BIBLIOGRAPHY..........................................................................................................
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El Camino De Verdi Al Verismo: La Gioconda De Ponchielli the Road of Verdi to Verism: La Gioconda De Ponchielli
Revista AV Notas, Nº8 ISSN: 2529-8577 Diciembre, 2019 EL CAMINO DE VERDI AL VERISMO: LA GIOCONDA DE PONCHIELLI THE ROAD OF VERDI TO VERISM: LA GIOCONDA DE PONCHIELLI Joaquín Piñeiro Blanca Universidad de Cádiz RESUMEN Con Giuseppe Verdi se amplificaron y superaron los límites del Bel Canto representado, fundamentalmente, por Rossini, Bellini y Donizetti. Se abrieron nuevos caminos para la lírica italiana y en la evolución que terminaría derivando en la eclosión del Verismo que se articuló en torno a una nutrida generación de autores como Leoncavallo, Mascagni o Puccini. Entre Verdi y la Giovane Scuola se situaron algunos compositores que constituyeron un puente entre ambos momentos creativos. Entre ellos destacó Amilcare Ponchielli (1834-1886), profesor de algunos de los músicos más destacados del Verismo y autor de una de las óperas más influyentes del momento: La Gioconda (1876-1880), estudiada en este artículo en sus singularidades formales y de contenido que, en varios aspectos, hacen que se adelante al modelo teórico verista. Por otra parte, se estudian también cuáles son los elementos que conserva de los compositores italianos precedentes y las influencias del modelo estético francés, lo que determina que la obra y su compositor sean de complicada clasificación, aunque habitualmente se le identifique incorrectamente con el Verismo. Palabras clave: Ponchielli; Verismo; Giovane Scuola; ópera; La Gioconda; Italia ABSTRACT With Giuseppe Verdi, the boundaries of Bel Canto were amplified and exceeded, mainly represented by Rossini, Bellini and Donizetti. New paths were opened for the Italian lyric and in the evolution that would end up leading to the emergence of Verismo that was articulated around a large generation of authors such as Leoncavallo, Mascagni or Puccini.
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Giacomo Puccini Krassimira Stoyanova
Giacomo Puccini Complete Songs for Soprano and Piano Krassimira Stoyanova Maria Prinz, Piano Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924) 5 Ave Maria Leopolda (Giacomo Puccini) Conservatory. It is introduced by solemn organ harmonies (Milan, 20 May 1896) with strong treble line. The melody is shaped by slow Songs This short song is a setting of one of the composer’s letters lingering inflections of considerable emotional intensity. The Giacomo (Antonio Domenico Michele Seconda Maria) Gramophone Company (Italy) Ltd. The tone of this song, to the conductor Leopoldo Mugnone (who conducted hymn moves on to a more questioning phase, and concludes Puccini (1858-1924) was born into a family with long musical by the famous librettist Illica, a man of exuberant and violent Manon Lescaut and La Bohème in Palermo). It is a jocular with a smooth organ postlude. The tune was used by the traditions. He studied with the violinist Antonio Bazzini passions, celebrates the positivism of the late 19th century. salutation, offering greetings to his spouse Maria Leopolda, composer in his first opera Le Villi (1883) as the orchestral (1818-1897) and the opera composer Amilcare Ponchielli The text reflects that, although life is transient, we sense the from the dark Elvira (Bonturi, Puccini’s wife) and the blonde introduction to No. 5 and the following prayer Angiol di Dio. (1834-1886), and began his career writing church music. existence of an ideal that transcends it, conquering oblivion Foschinetta (Germignani, Puccini’s stepdaughter), who He is famous for his series of bold and impassioned operas and death. The musical setting is confident and aspirational, send kisses and flowers.
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Pietro Mascagni Ruggero Leoncavallo
PIETRO MASCAGNI CAVALLERIA RUSTICANA RUGGERO LEONCAVALLO PAGLIACCI JONAS KAUFMANN LIUDMYLA MONASTYRSKA ANNALISA STROPPA AMBROGIO MAESTRI MARIA AGRESTA SÄCHSISCHE STAATSKAPELLE DRESDEN CONDUCTED BY CHRISTIAN THIELEMANN STAGED BY PHILIPP STÖLZL SALZBURG EASTER FESTIVAL PIETRO MASCAGNI CAVALLERIA RUSTICANA Santuzza Liudmyla Monastyrska Turiddu Jonas Kaufmann Lucia Stefania Toczyska Alfio Ambrogio Maestri Lola Annalisa Stroppa Length: approx. 75' Cat. no. A 040 50042 RUGGERO LEONCAVALLO PAGLIACCI Nedda Maria Agresta Canio Jonas Kaufmann Tonio Dimitri Platanias Beppe Tansel Akzeybek Silvio Alsessio Arduini Length: approx. 90' “Opera as Great Romantic Cinema”, wrote the Salzburger Nachrichten Cat. no. A 040 50043 about the two one-act operas Cavalleria rusticana and Pagliacci, which proved real crowd-pullers and ensured record attendances at the Easter Orchestra Staatskapelle Dresden Festival. No wonder, for “Jonas Kaufmann, for whom it was in both cases Conductor Christian Thielemann his role debut, was on stellar form twice” (Daily Telegraph). “Kaufmann sings Chorus Staatsopernchor Dresden both parts so lyrically, with such italianità, mellow with impeccable highs, Salzburger Bachchor as to be a pure delight.” (Kurier) Equally impressive are Thielemann – “the Salzburger Festspiele & uber-conductor” (Telegraph) – and the Dresdeners, who “take time for Theater Kinderchor sensitive, melodious soul portraits, while delivering consummate drama Chorus Master Jörn H. Andresen at just the right moment. What we hear from the pit is sensational in its Stage Director Philipp Stölzl nuances.” (Kurier) Video Director Brian Large The scene is set by film and opera director Philipp Stölzl, contributing to the performance’s huge fascination: Stölzl divides the stage into several levels, Shot in HDTV 1080/50i staging crowd scenes below, private feelings above – the latter projected A co-production of ORF, 3sat, with filmic close-ups – doubling and trebling the action.
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Background Amilcare Ponchielli
Background Amilcare Ponchielli (1834 - 1886) was born in Paderno, Italy and studied at the Milan Conservatory between the ages of nine and eighteen. While there he composed his first opera, Il Sindaco Babbeo in collaboration with three other students. Following his studies, he worked for a time as an organist in Cremona and later as bandmaster in Piacenza. From 1856 to 1867 six operas preceded the one for which he became world famous, La Gioconda (La Jaconde or Mona Lisa). Il Convegno (the meeting) is a brilliant clarinet duo with band accompaniment. Faint-of-heart would-be soloists need not apply. It demands virtuosity and rigorously rehearsed timing throughout. Though its composition date is uncertain, newspaper reports from as early as 1869 have been found of its performance in Cremona. Raffaella Barbieatro at the Biblioteca Statale reports having uncovered as many as forty-three copies of the original score which is assumed to have been lost or stolen. She suspects that one or two additional manuscripts may still lurk uncatalogued This arrangement is adapted from the Alessandro Vessella manuscript #287 courtesy of the Biblioteca di Archeologia e Storia dell'Arte Roma - Ministero per i Beni e Le Attività Culturali – Italia and the piano reduction by Elio Peruzzi. The parts for the accompanying instruments have been transcribed faithfully from the Vessella manuscript with the single exception that all repeated 32nd notes indicated in the first movement for accompanying clarinets have been changed to 16ths. Alessandro Vessella was conductor of the Banda Municipale di Roma and exerted a lasting influence on the evolution of the instrumentation of the Italian band in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
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Editing Puccini's Operas. the Case of "Manon Lescaut" Author(S): Suzanne Scherr Source: Acta Musicologica, Vol
Editing Puccini's Operas. The Case of "Manon Lescaut" Author(s): Suzanne Scherr Source: Acta Musicologica, Vol. 62, Fasc. 1 (Jan. - Apr., 1990), pp. 62-81 Published by: International Musicological Society Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/932827 Accessed: 26-02-2019 19:11 UTC JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at https://about.jstor.org/terms International Musicological Society is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Acta Musicologica This content downloaded from 132.174.255.206 on Tue, 26 Feb 2019 19:11:19 UTC All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms 62 Editing Puccini's Operas The Case of "Manon Lescaut"* SUZANNE SCHERR (CHICAGO) The present study surveys the changing editorial and publishing practices of G. Ricordi & C. in Milan as applied to Giacomo Puccini's third opera and first popular success, Manon Lescaut (1893).1 In his letters the composer called it a "youthful" work with "some defects" and referred to his repeated efforts to "stabilize" the score.2 Therefore, as will be demonstrated, this oft-revised music provides typical examples of the editorial difficulties surrounding the twelve Puccini operas published by the Ricordi firm.3 Given the obvious limitations of this study, further research dedicated to the other operas is needed to construct a more exhaustive argument.4 However, some of the basic problems of editing these operas are examined in detail here.
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