Music: Romantic Period - Puccini
Music: Romantic Period - Puccini
Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924)
In 1858, Giacomo Puccini was born in Italy into a family dedicated to church musical service. He studied formally under his uncle, Fortunato Magi, and at fourteen years old he was already playing as an organist at various churches. When he was eighteen years old he saw Verdi’s Aida in Pisa and decided then that he wanted to write music for the theatre. In 1880 he went to Milan to study at the Conservatory. His first opera, La villi, was well received and was followed by a very busy career. However, Puccini did have some troubles along the way including stresses from international travel, a car crash that left him debilitated for six months, and rumors of an affair with his live in assistant. Puccini himself is quoted as having said “I am always falling in love. When I no longer am, make my funeral.”
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1893 Manon Lescaut - His 3rd Opera
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1910 The Girl of the Golden West
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1918 Gianni Schicchi
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1924 Turandot
He was unable to finish his last work, Turandot, because he succumbed to cancer. His friend, Franco Alfano did finish the last scene and Turandot was performed at the La Scala in 1926, but it ended without the final scene. The conductor, Toscanini laid down his baton and said these words- “Here ends the master’s work.”