In general, Puccini seems to have lived in artistic isolation. Even a productive relationship with Arturo Toscanini blew hot and cold. In one comic exchange, Puccini forgot he and Toscanini were currently estranged and sent a Christmas panettone. Realizing the error, Puccini wired Toscanini with an explanation: PANETTONE SENT BY MISTAKE, PUCCINI. Toscanini immediately replied: PANETTONE EATEN BY MISTAKE, TOSCANINI. It was Toscanini who conducted the famous opening night of Madama Butterfly, which ran in its original form for that one performance only. After serious reworking, including changing the basic framework from two acts to three and replacing some objectionable arias with more melodic ones, Butterfly triumphed in a new opening under the baton of Arturo Toscanini.In the single decade before his death, Puccini completed La Rondine , and the trilogy of Il Tabarro , Suor Angelica and Gianni Schicchi . He was in the process of finishing Turandot , the opera he considered his crowning achievement, when a persistent throat ailment was diagnosed as cancer. He died a few days after surgery and completion of the work was left to colleague, Franco Alfano. Shortly before his death, Puccini wrote that the music audience had lost its taste for melody and tolerated music devoid of logic and sensibility. He predicted "the end of opera" and, in fact, Turandot , was the last opera to rank as an internationally accepted standard repertory piece. No one since Puccini has enjoyed such a following. - azopera.com |
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