100-648: Divorçons is a French play by Victorien Sardou and Émile de Najac produced in 1880. A farcical comedy about seeking a divorce , it had theatrical runs over the following decades in England and the United States. It is about a young wife who wants to divorce her husband for a handsome ne'er do well. It was adapted into various films. The play was inspired by plans of the French government to legalize divorce. Legal divorce in France
200-510: A blind eye to his lifestyle as long as he was successful. When Edgar failed, they suggested to Ricordi that he should drop Puccini, but Ricordi said that he would stay with him and continued his allowance until his next opera. On commencing his next opera, Manon Lescaut , Puccini announced that he would write his own libretto so that "no fool of a librettist" could spoil it. Ricordi persuaded him to accept Ruggero Leoncavallo as his librettist, but Puccini soon asked Ricordi to remove him from
300-474: A celebration of the anniversary of the founding of Rome. The premiere was delayed to 1 June 1919, when it was played at the opening of a gymnastics competition. Although not written for the fascists, Inno a Roma was widely played during Fascist street parades and public ceremonies. Puccini had some contact with Benito Mussolini and the Italian Fascist Party in the year preceding his death. In 1923
400-579: A component of the giovane scuola ("young school"), a cohort of composers who came onto the Italian operatic scene as Verdi's career came to an end, such as Mascagni, Leoncavallo, and others mentioned below. Puccini is also frequently referred to as a verismo composer. Puccini's career extended from the end of the Romantic period into the modern period. He consciously attempted to 'update' his style to keep pace with new trends but did not attempt to fully adopt
500-687: A composer is almost entirely coincident in time with the verismo movement. Only his Le Villi and Edgar preceded Cavalleria rusticana . Some view Puccini as essentially a verismo composer, while others, although acknowledging that he took part in the movement to some degree, do not view him as a "pure" verismo composer. In addition, critics differ as to the degree to which particular operas by Puccini are, or are not, properly described as verismo operas. Two of Puccini's operas, Tosca and Il Tabarro , are universally considered to be verismo operas. Puccini scholar Mosco Carner places only two of Puccini's operas other than Tosca and Il tabarro within
600-552: A composer. Although Giulio Ricordi, head of Casa Ricordi, was supportive of Puccini while Manon Lescaut was still in development, the Casa Ricordi board of directors was considering cutting off Puccini's financial support. In any event, " Manon Lescaut was Puccini's first and only uncontested triumph, acclaimed by critics and public alike." After the London premiere in 1894, George Bernard Shaw pronounced: "Puccini looks to me more like
700-584: A descendant of the Manfredi family, which indicated that Puccini was actually having an affair with Giulia Manfredi, Doria's cousin. Upon the discovery of these documents, the press began to allege that Puccini had fathered Giulia Manfredi's son Antonio, which would make Nadia a granddaughter of Puccini. Unlike Wagner and Verdi , Puccini was not active in politics. Puccini biographer Mary Jane Phillips-Matz wrote: "Throughout this entire period [of World War I and its immediate aftermath], Puccini's interest in politics
800-439: A great success. However, the compositional style employed in the opera, with few stand-alone arias, was criticized at the time. Some contemporaries also criticized the opera for failing to achieve an "American" tone. However, the opera has been acclaimed for its incorporation of advanced harmonic language and rhythmic complexity into the Italian operatic form. In addition, one aria from the opera, Ch'ella mi creda , has become
900-407: A handful of composers in the entire history of opera. Between 2004 and 2018, Puccini ranked third (behind Verdi and Mozart) in the number of performances of his operas worldwide, as surveyed by Operabase . Three of his operas ( La bohème , Tosca , and Madama Butterfly ) were amongst the 10 most frequently performed operas worldwide. Gustav Kobbé , the original author of The Complete Opera Book ,
1000-476: A lesser extent, aspects of Wagnerian chromaticism". In addition, Puccini frequently sought to introduce music or sounds from outside sources into his operas, such as his use of Chinese folk melodies in Turandot . All of Puccini's operas have at least one set piece for a lead singer that is separate enough from its surroundings that it can be treated as a distinct aria, and most of his works have several of these. At
1100-515: A lukewarm response. The work was withdrawn for revisions after its third performance. In a Milanese newspaper, Giulio Ricordi published a defence of Puccini's skill as a composer, while criticizing Fontana's libretto. A revised version met with success at the Teatro del Giglio in Puccini's native Lucca on 5 September 1891. In 1892, further revisions reduced the length of the opera from four acts to three, in
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#17328732664871200-418: A maid working for the Puccini family, of having an affair with the composer. After the accusation, Manfredi committed suicide. However, an autopsy determined that Manfredi had died a virgin, refuting the allegations made against her. Elvira Puccini was prosecuted for slander and was sentenced to more than five months in prison, although a payment to the Manfredi family by Puccini spared Elvira from having to serve
1300-478: A modern style. One critic, Andrew Davis, has stated: "Loyalty toward nineteenth-century Italian-opera traditions and, more generally, toward the musical language of his Tuscan heritage is one of the clearest features of Puccini's music." Davis also identifies, however, a "stylistic pluralism" in Puccini's work, including influences from "the German symphonic tradition, French harmonic and orchestrational traditions, and, to
1400-399: A new, unperformed opera "inspired by the best traditions of Italian opera", which could be "idyllic, serious, or comic", to be judged by a panel including Galli and Ponchielli. Puccini's submission was disqualified because its manuscript was illegible; the second competition, in 1889, was notably won by Mascagni 's Cavalleria rusticana . Despite the defeat in the competition, Le Villi
1500-557: A play by David Belasco , in 1910. This was commissioned by, and first performed at, the Metropolitan Opera in New York on 10 December 1910 with Met stars Enrico Caruso and Emmy Destinn for whom Puccini created the leading roles of Dick Johnson and Minnie. Toscanini, then the musical director of the Met, conducted. This was the first world premiere of an opera at the Met. The premiere was
1600-701: A second time, to Mlle Soulié on 17 June 1872, the daughter of the erudite Eudore Soulié , who for many years superintended the Musée de Versailles . He was elected to the Académie française in the room of the poet Joseph Autran (1813–1877), and took his seat on 22 May 1878. He lived at Château de Marly for some time. He was a fervent book collector who assembled an immense collection of 80,000 books. The rooms at his home in Marly were devoted to housing his book and print collections. After his death his books were sold as described in
1700-543: A small community about fifteen miles from Lucca situated between the Ligurian Sea and Lake Massaciuccoli , just south of Viareggio . Torre del Lago was the primary place for Puccini to indulge his love of hunting. "I love hunting, I love cars: and for these things, in the isolation of Torre del Lago, I keep the faith." ("Amo la caccia, adoro l'automobile: e a questo e a quella nelle solitudini di Torre del Lago serbo intera la mia fede.") By 1900, he had acquired land and built
1800-615: A splendid run. Garat and Gervais were done at Theatre des Varlétés and in English at Criterion Theatre in London. Les Pattes de mouche (1860, afterwards anglicized as A Scrap of Paper ) obtained a similar success at the Gymnase. Fédora (1882), a work that popularized the fedora hat as well, was written expressly for Sarah Bernhardt , as were many of his later plays. This was later adapted by Umberto Giordano , and he made an opera entitled Fedora . The play dealt with nihilism , which
1900-627: A standard reference work on opera, wrote in the 1919 edition: "Puccini is considered the most important figure in operatic Italy today, the successor of Verdi, if there is any." Other contemporaries shared this view. Italian opera composers of the generation with whom Puccini was compared included Pietro Mascagni (1863–1945), Ruggero Leoncavallo (1857–1919), Umberto Giordano (1867–1948), Francesco Cilea (1866–1950), Baron Pierantonio Tasca (1858–1934), Gaetano Coronaro (1852–1908), and Alberto Franchetti (1860–1942). Only three composers, and three works, by Italian contemporaries of Puccini appear on
2000-461: A staple of compilation albums by operatic tenors. It is said that during World War I , Italian soldiers sang this aria to maintain their spirits. The 2008 Italian film, Puccini e la fanciulla ( Puccini and the Girl ), is based on the period of his life when he was composing the opera. Puccini completed the score of La rondine , to a libretto by Giuseppe Adami in 1916 after two years of work, and it
2100-613: A substitute organist. Puccini was given a general education at the seminary of San Michele in Lucca, and then at the seminary of the cathedral. One of Puccini's uncles, Fortunato Magi, supervised his musical education. Puccini got a diploma from the Pacini School of Music in Lucca in 1880, having studied there with his uncle Fortunato, and later with Carlo Angeloni, who had also instructed Alfredo Catalani . A grant from Queen Margherita , and assistance from another uncle, Nicholas Cerù, provided
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#17328732664872200-458: A time under Giovanni Paisiello . Each composed music for the church. In addition, Domenico composed several operas, and Michele composed one opera. Puccini's father Michele enjoyed a reputation throughout northern Italy, and his funeral was an occasion of public mourning, at which the then-famed composer Giovanni Pacini conducted a Requiem. With the Puccini family having occupied the position of maestro di cappella for 124 years (1740–1864) by
2300-555: A version that was well received in Ferrara and was performed in Turin and in Spain. Puccini made further revisions in 1901 and 1905, but the work never achieved popularity. Without the personal support of Ricordi, Edgar might have cost Puccini his career. Puccini had eloped with his former piano student, the married Elvira Gemignani ( née Bonturi ), and Ricordi's associates were willing to turn
2400-494: A villa on the lake, now known as the " Villa Puccini ". He lived there until 1921, when pollution produced by peat works on the lake forced him to move to Viareggio, a few kilometres north. After his death, a mausoleum was created in the Villa Puccini and the composer is buried there in the chapel, along with his wife and son who died later. The Villa Museo was owned by his granddaughter, Simonetta Puccini , until her death, and
2500-451: A week of the premiere of Verdi's last opera, Falstaff , which was first performed on 9 February 1893. In anticipation of the premiere, La Stampa wrote that Puccini was a young man concerning whom "great hopes" had a real basis (" un giovane che è tra i pochi sul quale le larghe speranze non siano benigne illusioni "). Because of the failure of Edgar , however, a failure of Manon Lescaut could have jeopardized Puccini's future as
2600-527: A year before that of Leoncavallo, and has been a perennial audience favourite, while Leoncavallo's version quickly faded into obscurity. Puccini's next work after La bohème was Tosca (1900), arguably Puccini's first foray into verismo , the realistic depiction of many facets of real life including violence. Puccini had been considering an opera on this theme since he saw the play Tosca by Victorien Sardou in 1889, when he wrote to his publisher, Giulio Ricordi , begging him to get Sardou's permission for
2700-506: Is always badgering him to increase her allowance. Bafourdin Bastien -a servant Josepha -a chambermaid Madame de Brionne -friend of Cyprienne and a young widow Mademoiselle de Lusignan -A spinster Madame de Valfontaine The play had its premiere in 1880 at the Palais Royal and became so popular that it ran without break for nine months. In 1881 also prompted an Italian journalist from
2800-474: Is best remembered today for his development, along with Eugène Scribe , of the well-made play . He also wrote several plays that were made into popular 19th-century operas such as La Tosca (1887) on which Giacomo Puccini 's opera Tosca (1900) is based, and Fédora (1882) and Madame Sans-Gêne (1893) that provided the subjects for the lyrical dramas Fedora (1898) and Madame Sans-Gêne (1915) by Umberto Giordano . His play Gismonda , from 1894,
2900-477: Is founded on the rising of the Dutch Geuzen at the end of the 16th century, and was made into a popular opera by Emile Paladilhe in 1886. The scene of La Sorcière (1904) was laid in Spain in the 16th century. The French Revolution furnished him three plays, Les Merveilleuses , Thermidor (1891) and Robespierre (1899). His play Gismonda (1894) was adapted into an opera by Henry Février . The last named
3000-452: Is occasionally performed as well, and has been recorded. After 1904, Puccini's compositions were less frequent. In 1906 Giacosa died and, in 1909, there was a scandal after Puccini's wife, Elvira, falsely accused their maid Doria Manfredi of having an affair with Puccini. Finally, in 1912, the death of Giulio Ricordi, Puccini's editor and publisher, ended a productive period of his career. Puccini completed La fanciulla del West , based on
3100-436: Is open to the public. An annual Festival Puccini is held at Torre del Lago. In the autumn of 1884, in Lucca, Puccini began a relationship with a married woman named Elvira Gemignani ( née Bonturi; 1860–1930 ), a former piano student of his. Elvira's husband, Narciso Gemignani, was an "unrepentant womanizer", and Elvira's marriage was not a happy one. Elvira became pregnant by Puccini, and their son, Antonio (1886–1946),
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3200-642: The Ambigu but for the death of the manager. Le Bossu , which he wrote for Charles Albert Fechter , did not satisfy the actor; and when the play was successfully produced, the nominal authorship, by some unfortunate arrangement, had been transferred to other men. Sardou submitted to Adolphe Lemoine , manager of the Gymnase , a play entitled Paris à l'envers , which contained the love scene, afterwards so famous, in Nos Intimes . Lemoine thought fit to consult Eugène Scribe , who
3300-619: The Capriccio sinfonico as a thesis composition for the Milan Conservatory. Puccini's teachers Ponchielli and Bazzini were impressed by the work, and it was performed at a student concert at the conservatory on 14 July 1883, conducted by Franco Faccio . Puccini's work was favourably reviewed in the Milanese publication La Perseveranza , and thus Puccini began to build a reputation as a young composer of promise in Milanese music circles. After
3400-711: The Catalogue de la bibliothèque de feu M. Victorien Sardou He obtained the Légion d'honneur in 1863 and was elected a member of the Académie française in 1877. Sardou died on 8 November 1908 in Paris. He had been ill for a long time. Official cause of death was pulmonary congestion . Sardou modelled his work after Eugène Scribe . It was reported in Stephen Sadler Stanton's intro to Camille and Other Plays that Sardou would read
3500-639: The Messagero newspaper in the guise of a review of the play to bring up the topic and condemn the Roman-Catholic movement named Opera dei Congressi which strongly opposed legalizing divorce in Italy. When the play premiered in England it shocked reviewers by its blatant references to the female sexuality exhibited by the main female character. In translations Des Prunelles comment to his romantic rival to "not eat before lunch" (ie to not have intercourse before marriage
3600-493: The verismo school: Madama Butterfly , and La Fanciulla del West . Because only three verismo works that were not composed by Puccini continue to appear regularly on stage (the aforementioned Cavalleria rusticana , Pagliacci , and Andrea Chénier ), Puccini's contribution has had lasting significance to the genre. Both during his lifetime and in posterity, Puccini's success outstripped other Italian opera composers of his time, and he has been matched in this regard by only
3700-558: The Fascist Party in Viareggio made Puccini an honorary member and sent him a membership card. However, evidence that Puccini was actually a member of the Fascist Party is ambiguous. The Italian Senate has traditionally included a small number of members appointed in recognition of their cultural contributions to the nation. Puccini hoped to attain this honour, which had been granted to Verdi, and undertook to use his connections to bring about
3800-497: The Operabase list of most-performed works: Cavalleria rusticana by Mascagni, Pagliacci by Ruggero Leoncavallo, and Andrea Chénier by Umberto Giordano. Kobbé contrasted Puccini's ability to achieve "sustained" success with the failure of Mascagni and Leoncavallo to produce more than merely "one sensationally successful short opera". By the time of Puccini's death in 1924, he had earned $ 4 million from his works. Although
3900-531: The Poisons (1907). In many of these plays, however, it was too obvious that a thin varnish of historic learning, acquired for the purpose, had been artificially laid on to cover modern thoughts and feelings. But a few – Patrie! and La Haine (1874), for instance – exhibit a true insight into the strong passions of past ages. L'Affaire des Poisons (1907) was running at the Théâtre de la Porte Saint-Martin and
4000-460: The appointment. While honorary senators could vote, there is no indication that Puccini sought the appointment for this purpose. Puccini also wished to establish a national theatre in Viareggio, a project which would require government support. Puccini met with Mussolini twice, in November and December 1923, seeking support for the theatre project. While the theatre project never came to fruition, Puccini
4100-538: The beginning of a fascist dictatorship, in his speech before the Chamber of Deputies on 3 January 1925. A chain smoker of Toscano cigars and cigarettes, Puccini began to complain of a chronic sore throat towards the end of 1923. A diagnosis of throat cancer led his doctors to recommend a new and experimental radiation therapy treatment which was being offered in Brussels . Puccini and his wife never understood how serious
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4200-622: The bohemians in La bohème , including a chronic shortage of necessities like food, clothing and money to pay rent. Although Puccini was granted a small monthly stipend by the Congregation of Charity in Rome ( Congregazione di caritá ), he frequently had to pawn his possessions to cover basic expenses. Early biographers such as Wakeling Dry and Eugenio Checchi, who were Puccini's contemporaries, drew express parallels between these incidents and particular events in
4300-597: The cancer was, as the news was revealed only to his son. Puccini died in Brussels on 29 November 1924, aged 65, from complications after the treatment; uncontrolled bleeding led to a heart attack the day after surgery. News of his death reached Rome during a performance of La bohème . The opera was immediately stopped, and the orchestra played Chopin 's Funeral March for the stunned audience. His funeral took place at Saint Mary's Royal Church in Schaerbeek , Brussels. He
4400-459: The contract was ultimately cancelled). Puccini did not participate in the public war effort, but privately rendered assistance to individuals and families affected by the war. In 1919, Puccini was commissioned to write music to an ode by Fausto Salvatori [ it ] honouring Italy's victories in World War I. The work, Inno a Roma (Hymn to Rome), was to premiere on 21 April 1919, during
4500-422: The dismissive term " Sardoodledom " in a review of Sardou plays ( The Saturday Review , 1 June 1895). Shaw believed that Sardou's contrived dramatic machinery was creaky and that his plays were empty of ideas. After producer Sir Squire Bancroft saw the dress rehearsal for Fedora , he said in his memoirs "In five minutes the audience was under a spell which did not once abate throughout the whole four acts. Never
4600-561: The famous old restaurant Antoine's , invented a dish called Eggs Sardou in honor of the playwright's visit to the city. The Rue Victorien Sardou and Square Victorien Sardou near the Parc Sainte-Périne in Paris are named after him. There are also streets named rue Victorien Sardou in Lyon and Saint-Omer . Giacomo Puccini Giacomo Antonio Domenico Michele Secondo Maria Puccini (22 December 1858 – 29 November 1924)
4700-465: The first act of one of Scribe's plays, rewrite the rest, and then compare the two. One of his first goals when writing was to devise a central conflict followed by a powerful climax. From there, he would work backwards to establish the action leading up to it. He believed conflict was the key to drama. He was ranked with the two undisputed leaders of dramatic art at that time, Augier and Dumas . He adhered to Scribe's constructive methods, which combined
4800-454: The first performance in neutral Monaco . The composer continued to work at revising this, the least known of his mature operas, until his death. La rondine was initially conceived as an operetta, but Puccini eliminated spoken dialogue, rendering the work closer in form to an opera. A modern reviewer described La rondine as "a continuous fabric of lilting waltz tunes, catchy pop-styled melodies, and nostalgic love music," while characterizing
4900-498: The first performance of Mascagni's Cavalleria rusticana , peaked in the early 1900s, and lingered into the 1920s. The style is distinguished by realistic – sometimes sordid or violent – depictions of everyday life, especially the life of the contemporary lower classes. Verismo does not usually employ the historical or mythical subjects associated with Romanticism . Cavalleria rusticana , Pagliacci , and Andrea Chénier are uniformly considered to be verismo operas. Puccini's career as
5000-572: The funds necessary for Puccini to continue his studies at the Milan Conservatory , where he studied composition with Stefano Ronchetti-Monteviti , Amilcare Ponchielli , Amintore Galli , and Antonio Bazzini . Puccini studied at the conservatory for three years, sharing a room with Pietro Mascagni . In 1880, at the age of 21, Puccini composed his Mass , which marks the culmination of his family's long association with church music in his native Lucca. Puccini wrote an orchestral piece called
5100-485: The heir of Verdi than any of his rivals." Manon Lescaut was a great success and established Puccini's reputation as the most promising rising composer of his generation, and the most likely "successor" to Verdi as the leading exponent of the Italian operatic tradition. Illica and Giacosa returned as librettists for Puccini for his next three operas, probably his greatest successes: La bohème , Tosca and Madama Butterfly . Puccini's next work after Manon Lescaut
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#17328732664875200-491: The leading exponents. His most renowned works are La bohème (1896), Tosca (1900), Madama Butterfly (1904), and Turandot (1924), all of which are among the most frequently performed and recorded of all operas. Puccini was born Giacomo Antonio Domenico Michele Secondo Maria Puccini in Lucca , Italy, in 1858. He was the sixth of nine children of Michele Puccini (1813–1864) and Albina Magi (1830–1884). The Puccini family
5300-602: The life of Marie Antoinette , Margherita da Cortona, and Conchita (based on the novel La Femme et le pantin – The Woman and the Puppet , by Pierre Loüys). Some of these abandoned subjects were taken up and turned into operas by other composers. For example, Franco Vittadini made an opera of Anima Allegra , Mascagni's opera Lodoletta is derived from Two Little Wooden Shoes , and Riccardo Zandonai eventually wrote Conchita . From 1891 onwards, Puccini spent most of his time, when not travelling on business, at Torre del Lago ,
5400-480: The opera, freely adapted from Murger's episodic novel, combines comic elements of the impoverished life of the young protagonists with tragic aspects, such as the death of the young seamstress Mimí. Puccini's own life as a young man in Milan served as a source of inspiration for elements of the libretto. During his years as a conservatory student and in the years before Manon Lescaut , he experienced poverty similar to that of
5500-549: The opera, revising it for what was virtually a second premiere at Brescia in May 1904 and performances in Buenos Aires, London, the US and Paris. In 1907, Puccini made his final revisions to the opera in a fifth version, which has become known as the "standard version". Today, the standard version of the opera is the version most often performed around the world. However, the original 1904 version
5600-562: The opera. Checchi cited a diary kept by Puccini while he was still a student, which recorded an occasion in which, as in Act 4 of the opera, a single herring served as a dinner for four people. Puccini himself commented: "I lived that Bohème , when there wasn't yet any thought stirring in my brain of seeking the theme of an opera". (" Quella Bohème io l'ho vissuta, quando ancora non mi mulinava nel cervello l'idea di cercarvi l'argomento per un'opera in musica. ") Puccini's composition of La bohème
5700-418: The play ends on a moral tone with the adultery punished and traditional family values being upheld. Henri Des Prunelles ( Daubray ) -husband of Cyprienne. His main interest is scientific and mechanical experiments. Cyprienne (Celine Chaumont) The young wife of M. de Prunelles. Adhemar de Gratignan - Cypriennes lover Clavignac - (Rene Luguet) A friend of Des Prunelles who is separated from his wife who
5800-429: The play featuring Eleonora Duse and Betty Hennings were said to have toned down this aspect of the character. In 1896 an adaption of the play was made by Herman Merivale under the name "The Queens Proctor" In this version that was said by a reviewer "to have been scrubbed of all offense" the husbsnd is transformed into Englishman,his wife and lover are Italians. The New York Times reviewed an 1897 staging of
5900-406: The play. The Los Angeles Times gave a favorable review of a 1998 theatrical revival of the play. This article on a play from the 1880s is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Victorien Sardou Victorien Sardou ( / s ɑːr ˈ d uː / sar- DOO , French: [viktɔʁjɛ̃ saʁdu] ; 5 September 1831 – 8 November 1908) was a French dramatist . He
6000-505: The plot as recycling characters and incidents from works like 'La traviata' and 'Die Fledermaus'. In 1918, Il trittico premiered in New York. This work is composed of three one-act operas, each concerning the concealment of a death: a horrific episode ( Il tabarro ) in the style of the Parisian Grand Guignol , a sentimental tragedy ( Suor Angelica ), and a comedy ( Gianni Schicchi ). Turandot , Puccini's final opera,
6100-575: The premiere of the Capriccio sinfonico , Ponchielli and Puccini discussed the possibility that Puccini's next work might be an opera. Ponchielli invited Puccini to stay at his villa, where Puccini was introduced to Ferdinando Fontana . Puccini and Fontana agreed to collaborate on an opera, for which Fontana would provide the libretto . Puccini submitted the work, titled Le Villi ('The Fairies'), for Casa Musicale Sonzogno [ it ] 's first of four musical competitions, advertised in April 1883, for
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#17328732664876200-472: The project. Four other librettists were then involved with the opera, as Puccini constantly changed his mind about the structure of the piece. It was almost by accident that the final two, Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa , came together to complete the opera. Manon Lescaut premiered at the Teatro Regio in Turin on 2 February 1893. By coincidence, Puccini's first enduringly popular opera appeared within
6300-677: The rural element in Nos Bons Villageois (1866), old-fashioned customs and antiquated political beliefs in Les Ganaches (1862), the revolutionary spirit and those who thrive on it in Rabagas (1872) and Le Roi Carotte (1872), the then threatened divorce laws in Divorçons (1880). Irish playwright and critic George Bernard Shaw said of La Tosca : "Such an empty-headed ghost of a shocker... Oh, if it had but been an opera!" He also came up with
6400-414: The same time, Puccini's work continued the trend away from operas constructed from a series of set pieces, and instead used a more "through-composed" or integrated construction. His works are strongly melodic. In orchestration, Puccini frequently doubled the vocal line in unison or at octaves in order to emphasize and strengthen the melodic line. Verismo is a style of Italian opera that began in 1890 with
6500-544: The same time, he was trying to make headway in the literary world. His talents had been encouraged by an old bas-bleu , Mme de Bawl, who had published novels and enjoyed some reputation in the days of the Restoration , but she could do little for her protégé. Victorien Sardou made efforts to attract the attention of Mlle Rachel , and to win her support by submitting to her a drama, La Reine Ulfra , founded on an old Swedish chronicle. A play of his, La Taverne des étudiants ,
6600-523: The scene of the crash, together with another person who came to investigate, saved Puccini from the wreckage. The injury did not heal well, and Puccini remained under treatment for months. During the medical examinations that he underwent it was also found that he was suffering from a form of diabetes. The accident and its consequences slowed Puccini's completion of his next work, Madama Butterfly . The original version of Madama Butterfly premiered at La Scala on 17 February 1904 with Rosina Storchio in
6700-527: The score until 1887, hindering further performance of the work. Giulio Ricordi , head of G. Ricordi & Co. music publishers, was sufficiently impressed with Le Villi and its young composer that he commissioned a second opera, which would result in Edgar . Work was begun in 1884 when Fontana began working out the scenario for the libretto. Puccini finished primary composition in 1887 and orchestration in 1888. Edgar premiered at La Scala on 21 April 1889 to
6800-421: The sentence. Some music critics and interpreters of Puccini's work have speculated that the psychological effects of this incident on Puccini interfered with his ability to complete compositions later in his career, and also influenced the development of his characters such as Liù (from Turandot ), a slave girl who dies tragically by suicide. In 2007, documents were found in the possession of Nadia Manfredi,
6900-523: The three old kinds of comedy —the comedy of character, of manners and of intrigue— with the drame bourgeois , and blended the heterogeneous elements into a compact body. He opened a wider field to social satire: He ridiculed the vulgar and selfish middle-class person in Nos Intimes (1861: anglicized as Peril ), the gay old bachelors in Les Vieux Garçons (1865), the modern Tartufes in Seraphine (1868),
7000-464: The time of Michele's death, it was anticipated that Michele's son Giacomo would occupy that position as well when he was old enough. However, when Michele Puccini died in 1864, his son Giacomo was only six years old and thus not capable of taking over his father's job. As a child, he nevertheless participated in the musical life of the Cattedrale di San Martino, as a member of the boys' choir and later as
7100-448: The title role. It was initially greeted with great hostility (probably largely owing to inadequate rehearsals). When Storchio's kimono accidentally lifted during the performance, some in the audience started shouting: "The butterfly is pregnant" and "There is the little Toscanini". The latter comment referred to her well publicised affair with Arturo Toscanini . This version was in two acts; after its disastrous premiere, Puccini withdrew
7200-460: The work differently. Rejecting the allegation that Tosca displayed Wagnerian influences, a critic reporting on the Torino premiere of 20 February 1900 wrote: "I don't think you could find a more Puccinian score than this." On 25 February 1903, Puccini was seriously injured in a car crash during a nighttime journey on the road from Lucca to Torre del Lago . The car was driven by Puccini's chauffeur and
7300-452: The work to be made into an opera: "I see in this Tosca the opera I need, with no overblown proportions, no elaborate spectacle, nor will it call for the usual excessive amount of music." The music of Tosca employs musical signatures for particular characters and emotions, which have been compared to Wagnerian leitmotivs, and some contemporaries saw Puccini as thereby adopting a new musical style influenced by Richard Wagner . Others viewed
7400-530: Was La bohème , a four-act opera based on the 1851 book by Henri Murger , La Vie de Bohème . La bohème premiered in Turin in 1896, conducted by Arturo Toscanini . Within a few years, it had been performed in many of the leading opera houses of Europe, including in Britain, as well as in the United States. It was a popular success and remains one of the most frequently performed operas ever written. The libretto of
7500-434: Was bowdlerized into the more morally acceptale "do not let the present spoil the future" Comments were also made that Celine Chaumont who originated the role portrayed the character with too much vulgarity. The author Andre Gide who viewed an 1889 production of the play proclaimed it to be "...extremely strong and marvellously made . It even frightened me a little by its extreme boldness." Later stagings of
7600-489: Was a significant factor in the failure of that opera. Thereafter, especially throughout his middle and late career, Puccini was extremely selective, and at times indecisive, in his choice of subject matter for new works. Puccini was deeply involved in the process of writing the libretto itself, requiring many iterative revisions of his libretti in terms of both structure and text. Puccini's relationships with his librettists were at times very difficult. His publisher, Casa Ricordi,
7700-460: Was also adapted into an opera of the same name by Henry Février. Victorien Sardou was born at 16 rue Beautreillis ( pronounced [ʁy bo.tʁɛ.ji] ), Paris on 5 September 1831. The Sardous were settled at Le Cannet , a village near Cannes , where they owned an estate, planted with olive trees. A night's frost killed all the trees and the family was ruined. Victorien's father, Antoine Léandre Sardou, came to Paris in search of employment. He
7800-729: Was also troubled by infidelity, as Puccini had frequent affairs himself, including with well-known singers such as Maria Jeritza , Emmy Destinn , Cesira Ferrani , and Hariclea Darclée . In 1906, while attending the opening of Madama Butterfly in Budapest, Puccini fell in love with Blanke Lendvai, the sister of Hungarian composer Ervin Lendvai (his friend and protégé for many years). Blanke and Puccini exchanged love letters until 1911, when he started an affair with German aristocrat Baroness Josephine von Stangel, which lasted for six years. In 1909, Puccini's wife Elvira publicly accused Doria Manfredi,
7900-411: Was an Italian composer known primarily for his operas . Regarded as the greatest and most successful proponent of Italian opera after Verdi , he was descended from a long line of composers, stemming from the late Baroque era. Though his early work was firmly rooted in traditional late-19th-century Romantic Italian opera, it later developed in the realistic verismo style, of which he became one of
8000-557: Was born in Monza . Elvira left Lucca when the pregnancy began to show and gave birth elsewhere to avoid gossip. Elvira, Antonio and Elvira's daughter by Narciso, Fosca (1880–1968), began to live with Puccini shortly afterwards. Narciso was killed by the husband of a woman that Narciso had an affair with, dying on 26 February 1903, one day after Puccini's car accident . Only then, in early 1904, were Puccini and Elvira able to marry, and to legitimize Antonio. The marriage between Puccini and Elvira
8100-529: Was buried in Milan , in Toscanini's family tomb, but that was always intended as a temporary measure. In 1926, on the 2nd anniversary of his death, his son arranged to transfer his father's remains to a specially created chapel inside the Puccini villa at Torre del Lago. Most broadly, Puccini wrote in the style of the late-Romantic period of classical music (see Romantic music ). Music historians also refer to Puccini as
8200-451: Was carrying Puccini, his future wife Elvira, and their son Antonio. It went off the road, fell several metres, and flipped over. Elvira and Antonio were flung from the car and escaped with minor injuries. Puccini's chauffeur, also thrown from the car, suffered a serious fracture of his femur. Puccini was pinned under the vehicle, with a severe fracture of his right leg and with a portion of the car pressing down on his chest. A doctor living near
8300-430: Was close to zero, as it had been all his life, so far as one can judge. He seemed almost indifferent to everything from mayoral elections in Viareggio to cabinet appointments in Rome." Another biographer speculates that Puccini may have been—if he had a political philosophy—a monarchist. Puccini's indifference to politics caused him problems during World War I . Puccini's long-standing and close friendship with Toscanini
8400-406: Was coined from Fathers and Sons by Ivan Turgenev . He struck a new vein by introducing a strong historic element in some of his dramatic romances. Thus he borrowed Théodora (1884) from Byzantine annals (which was also adapted into an opera by Xavier Leroux ), La Haine (1874) from Italian chronicles, La Duchesse d'Athénes from the forgotten records of medieval Greece. Patrie! (1869)
8500-612: Was established by law on 27 July 1884. Its set in Reims and is about Monsieur Des Prunelles and his marriage troubles when his wife (Cyprienne) falls in love with and wants to marry another man (Adhemar) Des Prunelles discovers the relationship. Amicably he accepts his wifes wish to be divorced after they both believe a fake report about a bill having been passed legalizing marriage in France. He pretends to have dinner with another woman but this drives Cyprienne to become jealous and realize that she indeed loves her husband. They are reconciled and
8600-575: Was established in Lucca as a local musical dynasty by Puccini's great-great-grandfather – also named Giacomo (1712–1781). This first Giacomo Puccini was maestro di cappella of the Cattedrale di San Martino in Lucca. He was succeeded in this position by his son, Antonio Puccini, and then by Antonio's son Domenico , and Domenico's son Michele (father of the subject of this article). Each of these men studied music at Bologna, and some took additional musical studies elsewhere. Domenico Puccini studied for
8700-532: Was frequently required to mediate disputes and impasses between them. Puccini explored many possible subjects that he ultimately rejected only after a significant amount of effort—such as the creation of a libretto—had been put into them. Among the subjects that Puccini seriously considered, but abandoned, were: Cristoforo Sly , Anima Allegra (based on the play El genio alegre by Serafín and Joaquín Álvarez Quintero), Two Little Wooden Shoes ( I due zoccoletti ) (a short story by Maria Louise Ramé, a.k.a. Ouida ),
8800-676: Was in succession a book-keeper at a commercial establishment, a professor of book-keeping, the head of a provincial school, then a private tutor and a schoolmaster in Paris, besides editing grammars, dictionaries and treatises on various subjects. With all these occupations, he hardly succeeded in making a livelihood, and when he retired to his native country, Victorien was left on his own resources. He had begun studying medicine, but had to desist for want of funds. He taught French to foreign pupils: he also gave lessons in Latin, history and mathematics to students, and wrote articles for cheap encyclopaedias. At
8900-405: Was interrupted for nearly a decade because of an argument in the summer of 1914 (in the opening months of the war) during which Puccini remarked that Italy could benefit from German organization. Puccini was also criticized during the war for his work on La rondine under a 1913 commission contract with an Austrian theater after Italy and Austria-Hungary became opponents in the war in 1915 (although
9000-545: Was later staged at the Teatro Dal Verme , premiering on 31 May 1884. Casa Ricordi assisted with the premier by printing the libretto without charge. Fellow students from the Milan Conservatory formed a large part of the orchestra. The performance was enough of a success that Casa Ricordi purchased the opera. Revised into a two-act version with an intermezzo between the acts, Le Villi was performed at La Scala in Milan, on 24 January 1885. However, Ricordi did not publish
9100-475: Was left unfinished at the composer's death in November 1924, and the last two scenes were completed by Franco Alfano based on the composer's sketches. The libretto for Turandot was based on a play of the same name by Carlo Gozzi . The music of the opera is heavily inflected with pentatonic motifs, intended to produce an Asiatic flavour to the music. Turandot contains a number of memorable stand-alone arias, among them Nessun dorma . The libretto of Edgar
9200-469: Was named Senator ( senatore a vita ) a few months before his death. At the time Puccini met with Mussolini, Mussolini had been prime minister for approximately a year, but his party had not yet taken full control of the Italian Parliament through the violence and irregularities of the 1924 general election . Puccini was no longer alive when Mussolini announced the end of representative government and
9300-507: Was premiered at the Grand Théâtre de Monte Carlo on 27 March 1917. The opera had been originally commissioned by Vienna's Carltheater ; however, the outbreak of World War I prevented the premiere from being given there. Moreover, the firm of Ricordi had declined the score of the opera – Giulio Ricordi's son Tito was then in charge and he described the opera as "bad Lehár ". It was taken up by their rival, Lorenzo Sonzogno, who arranged
9400-501: Was produced at the Odéon on 1 April 1854, but met a stormy reception, owing to a rumour that the débutant had been instructed and commissioned by the government to insult the students. La Taverne was withdrawn after five nights. Another drama by Sardou, Bernard Palissy , was accepted at the same theatre, but the arrangement was cancelled in consequence of a change in the management. A Canadian play, Fleur de Liane , would have been produced at
9500-476: Was revolted by the scene in question. In 1857, Sardou felt the pangs of actual want, and his misfortunes culminated in an attack of typhoid fever. He was living in poverty and was dying in his garret , surrounded by his rejected manuscripts. A lady who was living in the same house unexpectedly came to his assistance. Her name was Mlle de Brécourt . She had theatrical connections and was a special favourite of Mlle Déjazet . She nursed him, cured him, and, when he
9600-572: Was the subject of a public dispute between Puccini and fellow composer Ruggiero Leoncavallo. In early 1893, the two composers discovered that they were both engaged in writing operas based on Murger's work. Leoncavallo had started his work first, and he and his music publisher claimed to have "priority" on the subject (although Murger's work was in the public domain). Puccini responded that he started his own work without having any knowledge of Leoncavallo's project, and wrote: "Let him compose. I will compose. The audience will decide." Puccini's opera premiered
9700-473: Was treatment of a strange and dangerous subject more masterly, never was acting more superb than Sarah showed that day." William Winter said of Fedora that "the distinguishing characteristic of this drama is carnality." Sardou is mentioned in part two, chapter two of Proust 's The Guermantes Way , the third volume of In Search of Lost Time . In New Orleans, during the period when much of its upper class still spoke French, Antoine Alciatore, founder of
9800-456: Was very successful at the time of his death. The play involved the poisoning camarilla under Louis XIV of France . Toward the end of his life, Sardou made several recordings of himself reading passages from his works, including a scene from Patrie! Sardou married his benefactress, Mlle de Brécourt, but eight years later he became a widower, and soon after the Revolution of 1870 was married
9900-422: Was well again, introduced him to her friend. Déjazet had just established the theatre named after her, and every show after La Taverne was put on at this theatre. Fortune began to smile on the author. It is true that Candide , the first play he wrote for Mlle Déjazet, was stopped by the censor, but Les Premières Armes de Figaro , Monsieur Garat , and Les Prés Saint Gervais , produced almost in succession, had
10000-610: Was written expressly for Sir Henry Irving , and produced at the Lyceum theatre in London, as was Dante (1903). The Napoleonic era was revived in La Tosca (1887). Madame Sans-Gêne (1893) was written specifically for Gabrielle Réjane as the unreserved, good-hearted wife of Marshal Lefevre. It was translated into English and starred Irving and Ellen Terry at the Lyceum Theatre. Later plays were La Pisie (1905) and The Affair of
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