Chapter 62

Opera in Milan after Verdi: Puccini, Toscanini, and Verismo

Lecture Overview

• Operas as a business and art in Italy at the turn of the 20th century

• Giacomo Puccini– life and works– Madama Butterfly, aria “Dovunque al mondo”

• Rise of the virtuoso conductor– Arturo Toscanini

• Verismo opera• Review

The Life of Giacomo Puccini (1858–1924)

• 1858 born in Lucca (near Florence); father a church organist• 1880 enters Milan Conservatory, studies with Amilcare

Ponchielli• 1893 first operatic success with Manon Lescaut• 1904 composes Madama Butterfly • 1924 dies in Brussels

Principal Compositions by Giacomo Puccini

• Operas: 12 including– La Bohème– Madama Butterfly– Tosca– Turandot

• Chorus: miscellaneous pieces including a Mass

Giacomo Puccini, Madama Butterfly, 1904, aria “Dovunque al

mondo”

Varied strophic form

The Life of Arturo Toscanini (1867–1957)

• 1867 born in Parma, studies cello at local conservatory

• 1886 begins career of operatic conductor in Rio de Janeiro, later in Turin

• 1896 conducts the premiere of Puccini’s La Bohème in Turin

• 1898 appointed chief conductor at La Scala in Milan

• 1908 conducts at Metropolitan Opera in New York• 1928 music director of New York Philharmonic

Orchestra• 1937 conducts the NBC Symphony Orchestra, an

organization created expressly for him• 1957 dies in New York

Review Key Terms

• impresario• Ricordi• Arturo Toscanini• verismo• Pietro Mascagni• Ruggero Leoncavallo