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27-662: The Festival is located in Torre del Lago , Italy, a town located between Lago di Massaciuccoli and the Tyrrhenian Sea, 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) from the beaches of Viareggio on the Tuscan Riviera and 18 kilometres (11 mi) from Pisa and Lucca , Puccini's birthplace. In presenting four or five performances of up to four operatic productions each season, the Festival attracts about forty thousand spectators to its open-air theatre,

54-462: A 600-seat covered studio theatre. The Teatro al Aperto was built to take advantage of the view across Massaciuccoli Lake in the background. In over seventy years of the Festival, the stage of Torre del Lago has hosted the most famous and acclaimed names of world opera. Among them was Tito Gobbi , who also made his début as director in Tosca ; Mario del Monaco , who chose the Festival as his farewell to

81-412: A letter from Fontana to Puccini on 3 September 1884, has pointed out that the librettist intended for these to be read by the audience but not actually recited by a narrator. But according to Mosco Carner, Puccini had intended for the verses to be read out to the audience, although he notes there is no mention of this having actually happened in contemporary reviews of the first production. Likewise, there

108-577: A panel including Amintore Galli and Amilcare Ponchielli . Puccini's submission was disqualified because its manuscript was illegible. Puccini's supporters, who included Arrigo Boito , funded the first production, whose favorable reception led to publication by Giulio Ricordi . Puccini's mother received the following telegram on the night of premiere at the Teatro dal Verme on 31 May 1884: "Theatre packed, immense success; anticipations exceeded; eighteen calls; finale of first act encored thrice"'. Ricordi urged

135-565: A small chapel inside the Villa, in a room transformed into a mausoleum after his death. The Puccini Festival was started in 1930 following what is believed to have been Puccini's comment to friend Giovacchino Forzano , one of his librettists , in 1924 just before he left for the clinic in Brussels for his throat operation: "I always come out here and take a boat to go and shoot snipes … but once I would like to come here and listen to one of my operas in

162-517: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Le Villi Le Villi ( The Willis or The Fairies ) is an opera – ballet in two acts (originally one) composed by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Ferdinando Fontana , based on the short story "Les Willis" by Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr . Karr's story was in turn based in the Central European legend of the Vila , also used in

189-636: Is also used in the Sony 1981 studio recording of the work. A revised, two-act version was performed in at the Teatro Regio , Turin, on 26 December 1884. Le Villi was also performed at the Teatro San Carlo in Naples on 15 January 1888. However, on that occasion it was not viewed favourably by either the audience or the critics who characterized it as "simply an imitation of Wagner ". Puccini continued to revise

216-444: Is buried in a small chapel inside the Villa. The area of the village on the sea (Marina di Torre del Lago) is well known for being an important gay and gay-friendly summer resort of national and international appeal. It is served by Torre del Lago Puccini railway station . 43°49′39″N 10°17′22″E  /  43.82750°N 10.28944°E  / 43.82750; 10.28944 This Province of Lucca location article

243-767: Is no record of a narrator having been used at the first performance of Le Villi at the Metropolitan Opera in 1908. Nevertheless, a narrator is used in some modern productions of the opera, such as the September 2004 production at the Teatro Dal Verme with Leo Nucci as the narrator, and the August 1994 production at the Festival della Valle d'Itria in Martina Franca with Massimo Foschi as narrator. A narrator ( Tito Gobbi )

270-402: Is still worried about Roberto leaving. Roberto then asks Guglielmo, Anna's father, to bless them before his journey and Roberto sets off for Mainz. Roberto is enchanted by a siren , and forgets Anna. Anna waits through the summer and the autumn and in the winter dies in his absence. The legend of the fairies ( Le Villi ) is then explained. When a woman dies of a broken heart, the fairies force

297-506: The Teatro dei Quattromila (so named for its seating capacity, although 3,200 seats were actually installed), located very close to the " Villa Puccini ," the house which the composer had built in 1900 and in which he lived and worked on his major operas until pollution from the lake forced him to settle in Viareggio in 1921. Along with other members of his family who died later, Puccini is buried in

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324-524: The Vienna State Opera until 23 October 2005, when it was performed in a double bill with Leoš Janáček 's Osud . Simone Young conducted the performance with Krassimira Stoyanova as Anna and José Cura as Roberto. The UK premiere of the original version, and the first performance anywhere since the first performance on 31 May 1884, took place in London's Royal Festival Hall on 21 November 2018. It

351-509: The Festival site was moved to reclaimed land just north of and near to the small lake harbour, did the Puccini Festival became an annual summer event. With its small villages on the opposite shore, whose flickering lights at night provide unforgettable natural scenery to complement the performances taking place on the stage, the location proved a success, although the theatre's ultra modern design and size have sometimes been drawbacks. After

378-583: The Lake) is a town of almost 11,000 inhabitants, a frazione of the comune of Viareggio , in the province of Lucca , Tuscany , Italy, between the Lake of Massaciuccoli and the Tyrrhenian Sea . The Festival Puccini , an annual opera festival which attracts around 40,000 attendees, is held in its open-air theatre, a short distance from Villa Puccini where the opera composer Giacomo Puccini lived and worked. He

405-572: The Maestro's favourite characters, with Plácido Domingo narrating as Puccini. The 2006 season was unique in that a production of La fanciulla del West was presented rather later in the traditional season with follow-up performances in Monaco in October. Many productions originating at the festival have gone on to appear in opera houses throughout the world. Torre del Lago Torre del Lago (Tower of

432-467: The Puccini Festival celebrated its 50th anniversary by a season featuring two great events: one was a new production of Madama Butterfly celebrating the centenary of its première in Brescia on 28 May 1904. It was conducted by Plácido Domingo with Daniela Dessì and Fabio Armiliato in the leading roles. The second was a special evening dedicated to Puccini's heroines, presenting the most beloved arias from

459-510: The Villi stalk him as he mourns the loss of the days of his youth (Aria: Torna ai felici dì ). Roberto then finds the one last flower left alive in the winter and tries to find hope that Anna lives but is repelled by the Villi when he tries to knock on the door of Guglielmo's house. Roberto then tries to pray for forgiveness but finds he cannot because of the curse put upon him by the Villi. As Roberto curses his fate Anna appears to him and tells him of

486-535: The ballet Giselle . The opera, in its original one-act version, premiered at Milan 's Teatro Dal Verme , on 31 May 1884. A performance typically lasts 64 minutes. Le Villi is Puccini's first stage work. It was written for Casa Musicale Sonzogno  [ it ] 's first of four musical competitions, advertised in April 1883, for a new, unperformed opera "inspired by the best traditions of Italian opera", which could be "idyllic, serious, or comic", to be judged by

513-408: The composer to expand the work, and Puccini did, producing a new version later that year, which was followed by modifications in 1885, and the final version in 1889. In the libretto, each part of the symphonic intermezzo between acts 1 and 2 – L'Abbandono (The Desertion) and La tregenda (The Spectre ) – is preceded by explanatory verses recounting the intervening events. Michele Girardi, citing

540-712: The creation of the Puccini Festival Foundation in 1990, achieved in order to put the event on a more established financial footing, plans were put in place to create a new open-air theatre with up-to-date facilities and acoustics. The town authorities of Viareggio purchased 270,000 square feet (25,000 m) of land to create the Parco della Musica (Music Park) and on it constructed the Teatro al Aperto (the Outdoor Theatre) now seating 3,200. In addition, other facilities for rehearsals and workshops were built, along with

567-420: The heart breaker to dance until death. Winter Anna's father, Guglielmo, holds Roberto responsible for Anna's death and calls upon the Villi to take vengeance on Roberto (Aria: Anima santa della figlia mia ). The Villi call upon the ghost of Anna and lure Roberto into the forest. Roberto, now penniless and abandoned by the seductress, returns when news of Anna's death reaches him. He hopes for forgiveness, but

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594-531: The lake shore, in front of the Maestro's house. In a provisional theatre, the Carro di Tespi Lirico with its stage built on piles stuck in the lake, a travelling opera company performed La bohème directed by Forzano and conducted by Mascagni. The same company came back in 1931 when Beniamino Gigli and Adelaide Saraceni performed in La bohème , while Rosetta Pampanini and Angelo Michetti performed Madama Butterfly . This

621-474: The open air." The composer was thought to be expressing the hope that his operas would be performed in the extraordinary natural stage offered by the Massaciuccoli Lake. However, this was disputed by his granddaughter, Simonetta Puccini . Nevertheless, on 24 August 1930, together with Pietro Mascagni , who had been fellow student of Puccini's, Forzano produced the first performances of a Puccini opera on

648-460: The stage in Il Tabarro , and many others who began or ended extraordinary careers. In 2000, 70th anniversary of Forzano and Mascagni's initiative, the 46th Puccini Festival presented two major new productions, Madama Butterfly and Tosca . In addition, the program included Puccini's first opera, Le Villi , presented in concert, with performances by Katia Ricciarelli and Josè Cura . In 2004

675-847: The work up until its Hamburg premiere in 1892, conducted by Gustav Mahler . The UK premiere, by the Carl Rosa Opera Company occurred on 24 September 1897 at the Comedy Theatre in Manchester, and the US premiere came on 17 December 1908 at the New York Metropolitan Opera conducted by Arturo Toscanini . Performed as a double bill with Mascagni 's Cavalleria rusticana , the Met's production featured Frances Alda as Anna and Alessandro Bonci as Roberto. The work did not receive its premiere at

702-867: Was given by the London Philharmonic Orchestra under Sir Mark Elder . The soloists were Ermonela Jaho , Brian Mulligan and Arsen Soghomonyan with the Opera Rara Chorus. Spring Family and guests dance at a celebration of the engagement in marriage of Roberto and Anna. Roberto must leave before the ceremony to collect an inheritance, and Anna worries that she will never see him again (Aria: Se come voi piccina ). Roberto comforts Anna telling her that it will be fine and they will marry when he returns from Mainz . Anna tells Roberto of her dreams of him dying but Roberto tells Anna that she should not worry about his love failing and that she may doubt her God but not his love for her. The crowd returns and Anna

729-440: Was the beginning of what was to become a major opera festival. However, in the years before 1949, due to the political and financial climate, there was only one presentation—in 1937—and that was a concert. Returning in 1949 to commemorate the 25th anniversary of Puccini's death, the Festival re-opened with La fanciulla del West and continued into the 1950s with many of the composer's most well known works. Not until 1966, when

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