Giacomo Puccini

賈科莫·安東尼奧·多米尼科·米歇爾·塞孔多·馬利亞·普契尼（意大利語：Giacomo Antonio Domenico Michele Secondo María Puccini，1858年12月22日－1924年11月29日）是一位意大利的歌劇作曲家，著名的作品有《波希米亞人》、《托斯卡》與《蝴蝶夫人》等歌劇，也是世界上最常演出的歌劇之一[1][2]。這些歌劇當中的一些歌曲已經(jīng)成為了現(xiàn)代文化的一部份，其中包括了《賈尼·斯基基》的《親愛的爸爸》與《圖蘭朵》中的《今夜無人入睡》在內(nèi)。
賈科莫·普契尼出生在意大利托斯卡納盧卡的一個音樂世家。普契尼的父親在他5歲時去世，所以他被送到叔叔福圖納托·梅吉（Fortunato Magi）那里來學(xué)習(xí)音樂，但是福圖納托卻認為普契尼是個沒有修養(yǎng)且粗俗的學(xué)生。后來普契尼成為盧卡教堂的風琴演奏家與唱詩班教師，但是直到觀賞了著名的歌劇作曲家朱塞佩·威爾第的歌劇《阿依達》之后，普契尼才決定當一位歌劇作曲家，而為了欣賞這次歌劇演出，他與朋友徒步18.5英里（30公里）前往比薩。
他10歲開始當唱詩班歌童，14歲任教堂管風琴手。因為普契尼得到了獎學(xué)金與一位親戚的幫助，于是在1880年進入米蘭音樂學(xué)校（Milan Conservatory）就讀，在浪漫派作曲家蓬基耶利（Amilcare Ponchielli）及巴齊尼（Antonio Bazzini）的指導(dǎo)下學(xué)習(xí)作曲。在普契尼21歲的這一年，他創(chuàng)作了《安魂曲》（Messa），標志著普契尼家族與盧卡的基督教音樂長久合作之下的顛峰。雖然普契尼將這部以天主教彌撒為背景的作品命名為安魂曲，但是現(xiàn)在卻以《榮耀經(jīng)彌撒》（Messa di Gloria）而聞名。這個名稱是技術(shù)性的因為普契尼只譜寫了常規(guī)彌撒的頭兩段（垂憐經(jīng)Kyrie及榮耀經(jīng)Gloria），而省略了信經(jīng)、圣哉經(jīng)和羔羊經(jīng)。
這個作品也隱約透露普契尼成為劇作家的跡象，因為他在舞臺上展現(xiàn)出了戲劇化力量。男高音與男低音的獨唱者在 詠嘆調(diào)上具有爆發(fā)力的演出，的確是比教堂音樂更加類似歌劇的。因為它所擁有的管弦樂編曲及戲劇般的力量，所以普契尼的《安魂曲》常常被拿來與威爾第的《安魂曲》（Requiem）相題并論。
在音樂學(xué)校就讀期間，普契尼從豐塔納（Ferdinando Fontana）那里得到了一個歌劇的劇本，并在1882年參加一次歌劇作曲競賽。雖然后來普契尼并沒有獲勝，不過作品《群妖圍舞》后來于1884年在米蘭威爾姆劇院（Teatro Dal Verme）舉行公演，而且獲得黎柯笛公司（Casa Ricordi）黎柯笛（Giulio Ricordi）的注意。普契尼因為受到黎柯笛的委托，所以第2部歌劇《埃德加》（Edgar）于1889年公演。后來普契尼也與豐塔納成為終生的好友。
普契尼在托瑞德拉古所創(chuàng)作的歌劇
普契尼的第3部歌劇《瑪儂·萊斯科》（MANON LESCAUT）于1893年公演，獲得巨大的成功。它連結(jié)了普契尼與劇作家雷基·伊利卡（Luigi Illica）及喬賽普·賈科薩（Giuseppe Giacosa）的關(guān)系。他們在接下來的3部歌劇共同合作，后來成為普契尼最知名的作品。這3部歌劇分別是：
《波希米亞人》：被認為是普契尼最成功的作品之一，同時也是歷史上最傳奇性的歌劇之一。
《托斯卡》：實際的描繪出真實生活的不同面向（包括暴力在內(nèi)），可以說是普契尼第一部帶有寫實主義色彩的作品。因為它許多重要的特征，所以被認為是歷史上最重要作品之一。
《蝴蝶夫人》：一開始被敵視（絕大部分是來自于對手），不過隨著幾次上演后，現(xiàn)在被認為是普契尼最成功的作品之一。
普契尼在1904年后的創(chuàng)作是越來越稀少，因為對于飆車的懷抱著熱情，使得他幾乎在1903年的一次車禍中身亡。賈科薩于1906年去世，然后在1909年爆發(fā)一件丑聞，因為妻子艾維拉對于他們的女傭曼佛迪（Doria Manfredi）與普契尼發(fā)生關(guān)系的不實指控，后來導(dǎo)致該女傭自殺。而艾維拉則遭到曼佛迪的家人控告成功，于是普契尼必須支付賠償金。普契尼的出版商雷哥爾第在1912年過世之后，也結(jié)束了普契尼劇作家生涯中的多產(chǎn)時期。
不過普契尼還是在1910年完成《西部女郎》，然后在1917年完成了《燕子》（La rondine），這是一部普契尼重新作曲的輕歌劇，但是他發(fā)現(xiàn)這與他的風格及才華是格格不入。
《三聯(lián)劇》（Il Trittico）在1918年于紐約首次公演，這部作品由3個部分所組成。第一個部份是《大衣》（Il Tabarro），屬于恐怖的大吉尼奧爾（Grand Guignol）的風格；第二個部分是《修女安潔麗卡》（Suor Angelica），為感人的悲??；第三個部分則是喜劇《賈尼·斯基基》（Gianni Schicchi）?！顿Z尼·斯基基》是3個部分最受歡迎的，包括著名的詠嘆調(diào)：《親愛的爸爸》。
歌劇作品
1884年：《群妖圍舞》（Le Villi）
1889年：《埃德加》（Edgar）
1893年：《瑪儂·萊斯科》（Manon Lescaut）
1896年：《波希米亞人》（La bohème）
1900年：《托斯卡》（Tosca）
1904年：《蝴蝶夫人》（Madama Butterfly）
1910年：《西部女郎》（La fanciulla del West）
1917年：《燕子》（La rondine）
1918年：《三聯(lián)劇》（Il trittico）
1926年：《圖蘭朵》（Turandot）
Giacomo Puccini (full name:Giacomo Antonio Domenico Michele Secondo Maria Puccini) (Italian pronunciation: [?d?a?komo put?t?i?ni]; Lucca 22 December 1858 – Brussels 29 November 1924) was an Italian composer whose operas are among the most frequently performed in the standard repertoire.
Puccini was "the greatest composer of Italian opera after Verdi".Whilst his early work was rooted in traditional late-19th century romantic Italian opera, he successfully developed his work in the 'realistic' verismo style, of which he became one of the leading exponents.
Puccini was born in Lucca in Tuscany, into a family with five generations of musical history behind them, including the composer Domenico Puccini. His father Michele was a music teacher and an unsuccessful opera composer, who died when Giacomo was five years old. Giacomo began to study music at the age of 16 after completing his standard education.
In 1880, with the help of a relative and a grant, Puccini enrolled in the Milan Conservatory to study composition with Stefano Ronchetti-Monteviti, Amilcare Ponchielli, and Antonio Bazzini. In the same year, at the age of 21, he composed his Mass, which marks the culmination of his family's long association with church music in his native Lucca.[n 2]
While studying at the Conservatory, Puccini obtained a libretto from Ferdinando Fontana and entered a competition for a one-act opera in 1882. Although it did not win, Le Villi was later staged in 1884 at the Teatro Dal Verme and it caught the attention of Giulio Ricordi, head of G. Ricordi & Co. music publishers, who commissioned a second opera, Edgar, in 1889. Edgar failed: it was a bad story and Fontana's libretto was poor. In fact Edgar nearly cost Puccini his career. Puccini had eloped with his former piano student, the married Elvira Gemignani, and Ricordi's associates were willing to turn a blind eye to his life style as long as he was successful. When Edgar failed, they suggested to Ricordi that he should drop Puccini, but Ricordi said that he would stay with him and made him an allowance from his own pocket until his next opera.
On commencing his next opera, Manon Lescaut, Puccini announced that he would write his own libretto so that "no fool of a librettist"[2] could spoil it. Ricordi persuaded him to accept Ruggero Leoncavallo as his librettist, but Puccini soon asked Ricordi to remove him from the project. Four other librettists were then involved with the opera, as Puccini constantly changed his mind about the structure of the piece. It was almost by accident that the final two, Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa, came together to complete the opera. They remained with Puccini for his next three operas and probably his greatest successes: La bohème, Tosca and Madama Butterfly. Manon Lescaut was a great success and laid the foundations for Puccini's career and reputation.
Style
Grove Music Online comments that
Puccini succeeded in mastering the orchestra as no other Italian had done before him, creating new forms by manipulating structures inherited from the great Italian tradition, loading them with bold harmonic progressions which had little or nothing to do with what was happening then in Italy, though they were in step with the work of French, Austrian and German colleagues.[26]
In his work on Puccini, Julian Budden describes Puccini as a gifted and original composer, noting the vibrant innovation hidden in the popularity of works such as "Che gelida manina". He describes the aria in musical terms (the signature embedded in the harmony for example), and points out that its structure was rather unheard of at the time, having three distinct musical paragraphs that nonetheless form a complete and coherent whole. This gumption in musical experimentation was the essence of Puccini's style, as evidenced in his diverse settings and use of the motif to express ideas beyond those in the story and text.
Works
Main article: List of compositions by Giacomo Puccini
"Donna non vidi mai"
From Manon Lescaut, act 1. Sung by Enrico Caruso in 1913.
"O soave fanciulla"
From La bohème, act 1. Sung by Enrico Caruso and Nellie Melba in 1906.
"O mio babbino caro"
From Gianni Schicchi, sung by Frances Alda in 1919
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Puccini also wrote orchestral pieces, sacred music, chamber music and songs for voice and piano, most notably his 1880 mass Messa di gloria and his 1890 string quartet Crisantemi. However, he is primarily known for his operas:
Le Villi, libretto by Ferdinando Fontana (in one act – premiered at the Teatro Dal Verme, 31 May 1884)
Edgar, libretto by Ferdinando Fontana (in four acts – premiered at La Scala, 21 April 1889)
Manon Lescaut, libretto by Luigi Illica, Marco Praga and Domenico Oliva (premiered at the Teatro Regio, 1 February 1893)
La bohème, libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa (premiered at the Teatro Regio of Torino, 1 February 1896)
Tosca, libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa (premiered at the Teatro Costanzi, 14 January 1900)
Madama Butterfly, libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa (in two acts – premiered at La Scala, 17 February 1904)
La fanciulla del West, libretto by Guelfo Civinini and Carlo Zangarini (premiered at the Metropolitan Opera, 10 December 1910)
La rondine, libretto by Giuseppe Adami (premiered at the Opéra of Monte Carlo, 27 March 1917)
Il trittico (premiered at the Metropolitan Opera, 14 December 1918)
Il tabarro, libretto by Giuseppe Adami
Suor Angelica, libretto by Giovacchino Forzano
Gianni Schicchi, libretto by Giovacchino Forzano
Turandot, libretto by Renato Simoni and Giuseppe Adami (incomplete at the time of Puccini's death, completed by Franco Alfano: premiered at La Scala, 25 April 1926