Giacomo Puccini: Master of Melody at UCLA

On Wednesday I began my 6 week class on Giacomo Puccini, the master opera music composer, at UCLA extension.  The instructor is Earl J. Schub who has taught for years.  This week we learned that Puccini was born on December 22, 1858 in Lucca, Italy to a father and grandfather who were musicians.  He had many sisters who along with his mother pampered him and shielded him from adversity which perhaps led to Giacomo not being able to say no to wine, women, and song.

Puccini wrote his first mass in 1876 at age 18 while studying at the Milan conservatory.  However, he fell in love with operas especially those by Verdi.  One of his operas was Le Villi in 1884 and another was Edgar in 1889.  Neither were well received.  However, Manon Lescaut in 1893 with Giuseppe Giacosa as librettist was a hit when it premiered in Turin then was moved to Milan.

The instructor played music from the first two operas and then played a DVD of a recording made by young Placido Domingo as tenor and Renata Scotto the dramatic soprano.  Yes, like many operas, the soprano dies in the end with the dashing tenor holding her in his arms.  Like Puccini's other famous operas, the music is beautiful and left me walking away humming a melody.

Giacomo Puccini 1858-1924

Renata Scotto and Placido Domingo in Manon Lescaut