The genius of Puccini, 100 years on
The star anniversary of this year is surely the centenary of the death of Giacomo Puccini, who died in Belgium in 1924 of the consequences of radical treatment for throat cancer, occasioned by a lifetime of heavy smoking.
Although the cognoscenti do not hold Puccini in the same esteem as they do Verdi, the public rates him every bit as highly. Indeed, some of Puccini’s finest operas are more often heard than Verdi’s.
La Bohème, for instance, is surely far more frequently done than anything by Verdi.
Mozart is the only operatic composer the public regard as fit to be mentioned in the same breath as either of the Italian giants, and these three stand head and shoulders above any other opera composer except maybe Wagner.
Puccini and Verdi’s lives overlapped, but as creative artists they are very different. Verdi is probably regarded as the greater of the two, but Puccini’s mature operas are impossible to write off, and only a fool would try to do so.
La Bohème is arguably the most popular opera ever written, entirely typical of Puccini’s ability to concentrate his brilliance into small acts, often less than 30 minutes in duration.
Indeed, it’s hard to think of a single act of Puccini’s mature output that doesn’t punch its weight, however short and taut it may be.
In his centenary year I would like to see more attention given to La Rondine which is perhaps the least highly rated of the composer’s single operas because it lacks consistency. This was largely because of the bizarre circumstances in which it came to be written. A commission from Vienna was somewhat damaged by the fact that Italy and Austria went to war during its creation.
Likewise his collection of three one-act operas, Il Trittico, especially Suor Angelica. While it’s no Bohème or Butterfly, it’s a deeply touching piece still worthy of more interest and attention than it gets. The first, Il Tabarro, is a bit of a lost cause, but Suor Angelica in the right performance surely deserves to be heard as often as the last in the triptych, Gianni Schicchi.