Puccini Conservatory of Music

Giacomo Puccini

Born in Lucca on February 22nd, 1858, 1924,165438+/kloc-0 died in Brussels on October 29th.

Giacomo puccini has been re-recognized by the public in recent years, and no composer has won such a brilliant honor like him. Puccini always aroused strong response from critics in his life. As a composer of the operas Bohemian, Tosca and Madame Butterfly, he was praised by the public, but he was also called a sentimentalist and emotional trafficker by academic circles and critics. The poor imitation of his musical style by operetta and comic opera cast a shadow over the real masterpiece, and Puccini soon became a victim of his reputation. Once these unfavorable factors are out of fashion, it will be much easier for people to evaluate the talent of composers.

Puccini's own countrymen also went through a process of understanding him correctly. His first striking work was not opera, but capriccio sinfonico, which was his graduation work at Milan Conservatory of Music. It's really late to be admitted to Milan Conservatory of Music at the age of 2/kloc-0. Some critics pointed out that this is an extraordinary "symphony of genius". It is true that in Italy at that time, the word "symphony" could not be used casually, and it was often used to refer to those large orchestral works. A publisher in Milan once considered entrusting Puccini with writing a classical symphony with four movements. This is a very meaningful thing, but it didn't produce results in the end, because the composer Puccini declared a few years later: "Almighty God touched me with his hand and said,' Create for the stage, and only create for the stage.' Since then, I have been following this supreme instruction. "

1884, Puccini's first opera "Veri" (this opera was written for a composition competition, but it was probably rejected by the jury of the competition because of scribbling). In the comments on this work, the word "symphony" appeared again. Among many careful comments, Filippo Filippi, an important music critic in Milan, wrote: "Puccini is basically a symphony composer, and his music is not conducive to shaping the musical image because he has added too much extended symphony materials." Philip Filipi's point of view is not unique. In a letter to a friend, the elderly Verdi also said, "I listened to Puccini's works, which were very good." But his music seems to be dominated by symphony factors. In fact, it doesn't hurt much, but the composer must follow it carefully. Opera is an opera, and symphony is a symphony. Symphony is added to the opera only to produce the effect of orchestral dance music. I don't think this is a good thing. "We can't find out what Puccini's works Verdi has heard. At that time, The Ghost Hit the Wall won great fame at home and abroad. 1892, gustav mahler conducted the performance of this opera in Hamburg, which was warmly welcomed by the public.

Puccini's next opera is Edgar, written in 1889. The playwright is also a poet. He wrote Dancing around the Devil. His pretensions are not conducive to the play. Neither the first edition nor the revised edition of 1905 has been successful, but Puccini has greatly developed his own creative personality in music, which runs through his life's creation; While maintaining his musical individuality, he transplanted the musical materials of contemporary young composers into his own creation, including Debussy, Richard Strauss and Stravinsky. Puccini's Mistress Manon Leskov was a great success in 1893. In his creative career, this is the only time that the Italian press and the public have shown enthusiastic attention to his works.

Puccini's operas spread slowly overseas. 1In the 1990s, after Verdi stopped composing, Italian opera began to decline. At that time, Pietro Mascagni's Cavalleria rusticana seemed to be regarded as a symbol of the revival of Italian opera. Usually, when staged in Europe, this work is always performed with Leon Cavallo's Clown. 1893' s Verdi opera Falstaff, which premiered, made the theater effect unprecedentedly noisy. In order to fight against it, Puccini's producers promised that the theater that staged "Mistress Manon Leskov" in the same performance season would get a real discount on commission. For Covent Garden Opera House in England, this is just a commercial operation strategy, but Puccini's opera turned out to be a terrible failure. However, there is a voice defending it, and that is George Bernard Shaw. He wrote in "The World": "In" The Country Knight "and" The Clown ",I didn't find anything new except the rationalization, improvement, condensation and substitution of Donizetian's opera music. But in mistress Manon Leiskow, the elements of German music were integrated into Italian opera, and the scope of Italian opera creation was expanded. " He further pointed out that in the use of harmony, the composer "did not show signs of fatigue in melody creation, and he could create moving tunes that old opera fans loved." Bernard Shaw concluded: "In any case, I think Puccini is more like the heir of Verdi than others." Time has fully proved his correctness.

Puccini's next three operas widened the gap between critics and the public. An artist's life, completed in 1896, is regarded by most critics as insignificant, even if it is popular, it is only a temporary phenomenon. A reporter even said, "We want to know whether Puccini intends to retire with exciting cheers." Four years later, Luigi Toki, the translator of Wagner's Opera and Drama, declared: "The opera Tosca shows that Puccini did not create a unique opera, but only wrote with the help of various expressions in the whole music field from Wagner to Msanet." However, Puccini's new opera is still as popular as his previous works. Ferruccio busoni (1866- 1924, Italian composer, conductor and pianist) left the theater 20 minutes after the opening night of Madame Butterfly in 1904, because of the conspiracy of rival publishers. Nevertheless, in the early decades of the 20th century, The Artist's Career, Tosca and Madame Butterfly were popular and enjoyed the same status as Verdi's romantic trilogy (Ligoletto, The Bard and La Traviata). In fact, after Verdi's death, his reputation gradually declined, and the public began to admire Puccini's operas, which were often performed all year round, but intellectuals did not actively participate. The heroine in E.M. Foster's novel howards end (written in 1908) also expressed her regret for Tosca, and Foster believed that Tosca represented the wishes of the general public.

At the same time, a powerful group against Puccini appeared in Italy. A so-called "80s" organization composed of composers such A. casella, I. Pisati and G. F. Malipiero tried to revive traditional Italian instrumental music, which has become increasingly popular since the times of Sammartini and Boccherini. Fausto Torrefranca, the main spokesman of this group, published a pamphlet entitled "Puccini Giacomao's International Opera" at 19 12, attacking Puccini as an incompetent craftsman and egoistic businessman, in short, a traitor to China's traditional music. Torrefranca later described this pamphlet as "the crime of youth", but it also forced Puccini to think more carefully about his artistic creation.

In fact, Puccini doesn't need to think much. After six years of silence, he finished the opera La fanciulla del West on 19 10. When he went to metropolitan opera to attend his opera performance, he declared that he was "tired of being an artist, Mrs. Butterfly and the performance company." Since then, Puccini's creative techniques have undergone subtle changes. The lyric elements in opera gradually decrease, the orchestral orchestration becomes more unique, and the vocabulary of harmony becomes wider, which tends to drift away from the unresolved dissonance chords. At this moment, the public began to alienate his music. Does this mean that Puccini's music melody began to dry up? The Roman newspaper Il Messaggero once said this. Puccini never responded to these unfavorable comments, but he begged Carlo Clausetti, the manager of the publishing house, to defend him. Clausetti pointed out that from Verdi to Mascagni, these composers are developing their own creative styles, which is a serious issue related to revival and death. Today's harmony is different from the past, and so is the orchestral orchestration. Puccini once sent the vocal music of the opera to a friend, and he also wrote, "You must be surprised by the use of harmony in Maiden of the West?" Don't be afraid. There are some differences in timbre, and there will be strong conflicts when playing on the piano, but the orchestra will be much smoother. "Even so, it took a long time for western girls to become one of the characters in the play. The next work, La Langding, is considered to be a fusion of opera and operetta. In "Il trittico", Puccini boldly wrote "Gianni Schicchi" as a pure comedy for the first time, which was immediately popular. For those who like Madame Butterfly, but can't keep up with the composer's progress, they don't notice that Il Tabareau, the first song in the trilogy, is as perfect and exquisite as The Artist's Life. There is also the opera Turandot staged after Puccini's death, which also shocked the world. Because this work is no longer a superficial emotional catharsis. Although Puccini didn't finish the whole work in the end, he concentrated his sympathy for the slave girl Liu Er, which marked his Excellence and sublimation in creation. Puccini's three works, which were completed in the middle of his creation, are now played most frequently.

For some time after the First World War, there have been forces hostile to Puccini in academic circles. Edward Dent, an Englishman, has repeatedly reevaluated Italian music with a rather German tendency. He said in 1932 that Puccini gave up composing for commercial reasons. What's even more ridiculous is that some people divided Puccini's most beautiful music melody into paragraphs about 4 minutes long to adapt to the unilateral length of the 78-turn record when the phonograph was recording at that time-it seems that most music has never been so carefully designed! Puccini's treatment is incredible.

1958, Moscow Canel published Puccini: A Critical Biography, which coincided with the composer's centenary birthday. This book is now in its third edition. It not only makes a first-class comment on Puccini's art, but also proves to be a new starting point for the extensive study of composers, which is also very influential in Italy. In his exposition, Kana did not use exaggerated words. He explained many factors that made Puccini's opera enduring, including: the perfect combination of words, music and body language; Since the publication of Mistress Manon Leiskow, the musical vocabulary has been expanding. While maintaining his own musical style, the composer absorbed the materials of avantgarde music at that time and the three-dimensional sense of architecture, which was the basis of his comedies. More importantly, composers realize their limitations. At least two things went against his original intention. First, at the end of Sister Angelica, the appearance of the Virgin Mary created a supernatural "miracle", and second, Turandot was not finally completed.

When Puccini's reputation for music creation was at its lowest point, he received some unexpected praises. His later works were appreciated by Stravinsky and Ravel, and even by busoni who once dismissed Puccini. 19 19, after listening to the performance of Girls in the West, anton webern wrote in a letter to his teacher arnold schoenberg: "The music from beginning to end is very creative, beautiful and beautiful, and every paragraph is amazing ... there is no trace of shoddy ... His apology is really unnecessary. Schoenberg thinks Puccini is "a master". As a musician, he is better than Verdi in many aspects. Luciano Berio, an important contemporary Italian composer, thinks that a new ending should be rewritten for Turandot on the basis of a deeper study of Puccini's draft, while Turandot, which was written by Alfano after the composer's death, is not enough to show its real value. If people who have resistance to Puccini's music can trace back to his last works, they will feel that Puccini's creative process, like Verdi, is a complete organism that develops step by step, and each work can directly resonate with the audience. For musicians in the industry, there is a very simple way to learn, that is, to work hard on the music score, which will undoubtedly make them become masters in playing Puccini's opera role.

Memorabilia of Puccini Giacomao's Life

1858: Puccini was born in Lucca on February 22nd, 65438. His father is the fourth person in his family to become an urban organist and composer. /kloc-at the age of 0/4, giacomo became an organist in several churches.

187 1: Verdi's opera Ayida premiered in Cairo. It is said that Puccini, a teenager, walked back and forth from Lucca to Pisa to see the opera. Later, he said, "I feel that the window of music has been opened for me."

1880: With the support of Queen Margaret Scholarship, Puccini was admitted to Milan Conservatory of Music. His graduation work "Symphony of Capriccio" was well received. Encouraged by his teacher Poncelet, he composed his first opera Dancing around the Devil (1884).

1884: jules massenet's Mistress Manon was staged in Paris and soon became his most popular opera. A few years later, Puccini wrote an opera with the same story.

1886: Puccini and his lover elvira Gemignani set up a family. Their son Antonio was born in 1886. But they didn't get married until after 18, that is, after elvira's separated husband died.

1888: Giulio Ricordi became the owner of the rebuilt Italian publishing company. He spared no effort to train Puccini and became a composer's mentor and art consultant until his death in 19 12.

1889: Mascagni, Puccini's roommate as a student, wrote "Country Knight" and won the first prize in the opera composition competition sponsored by Italian publisher Sonzonio.

1893: Puccini's first mature opera "Mistress Manon Leskov" was staged at Regio Theatre in Turin, which was a great success. His next opera "The Artist's Life" (written in 1896) was also staged here, which established his position. The picture on the left is a cartoon of Puccini and two playwrights, Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa, in the artist's career.

1894: Inspired by nature, Art Nouveau has influenced the visual arts in Europe with its decadent feeling and curvaceous beauty. Galileo Chini's ceramic design represents Italy's "free body" style, and he also served as the stage design of Turandot in the1920s.

1900: In the opera Tosca, Puccini combined the "classical style" at that time with the similar "dominant motivation" expression influenced by Wagner, and created a dramatic work with a cruel ending that attracted worldwide attention.

1902: david belasco's play Madame Butterfly (written on 1900) was successfully staged. On this basis, the Belasco Theatre in new york opened. His play The Girl in the West also premiered here 1905. These two plays were later written into operas by Puccini.

1903: Henry Ford, an American engineer, founded his automobile company and started the assembly line of mass production. Puccini likes fast cars. 1903 broke a leg in a car accident and was disabled.

1909: elvira accused her unfaithful husband of having an affair with the maid doria Manfredi (this time it may not be true). Her unreasonable pestering forced doria to commit suicide by taking poison.

19 10: After portraying the tragic heroine again in Madame Butterfly (written in 1904), Puccini's next opera turned to the California story The Girl in the West, with a happy ending. The opera was a great success when it premiered in new york.

19 15: Italy participated in the first world war with the allies. Puccini, who claimed to be pro-German, was writing Swallow for Karl Theatre in Vienna. His neutrality in political affairs angered many friends and colleagues.

1924:165438+1On October 29th, Puccini died of a heart attack, and his last opera Turandot was not finished. The picture on the left shows the Puccini statue of Luca.

The main characteristics of Puccini's music

Visual composer

Puccini's music can always stimulate the audience's visual effects, such as showing a bleak winter dawn with the gates of Paris, or showing the tranquility of the monastery with birds and flowers.

Harmony application

Puccini's main feature in the use of harmony can be called "flexible disharmony" because it avoids the collision of semitones. This helps to absorb pentatonic and full-tone harmony into his music creation. Another typical feature is the repeated interweaving of chords to create tension.

Theme reproduction

Puccini is more brilliant than contemporary Italian composers because he makes full use of the theme reproduction of the orchestra, which is not only the expression of the musical organism, but also the supplement of the story. With the development of the plot, the reappearance of the musical theme changed its meaning.

Texture structure

Puccini often sets two contrasting themes in his drama presentation, one is lively and the other is smooth and lyrical. The first act of his opera is often divided into two parts: after an ordinary activity scene, the focus is on the main characters concerned. Most heroines hear her voice first, and then see her. But Turandot came out first, and then made a sound, because she is a crucial figure in the play.

"Great sadness in young hearts"

This is what Puccini said when he described his opera principles to the poet Gabriele Dannunzio. He never tries to climb the heights of idealism, politics or spirit. He is called Charles Dickens in the immortal Italian opera.

A CD record about Puccini's music

Manon Leiskow

Mirella freni, luciano pavarotti, Dwain Croft, Giuseppe Taddei,

Ramon Vargas, Cecilia Bartoli;

Metropolitan opera Choir and Orchestra/

James Levine

Decca 440 200-2 (two records)

Artist's occupation

Leontina Bardois, roberto alagna, Ruth Ann Swainson, thomas Hampson,

Simon Keenlyside, Samuel Lamy;

Voice of London Choir, Philharmonic Orchestra/

Antonio Papano