The Puccini Companion

Collects essays concerning Puccini's life and works and includes articles on each of the composer's operas

Weaver, noted translator and music writer, and Puccini, granddaughter of Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924) and editor of two volumes of his letters, here present a wide-ranging collection of essays by music historians, critics and scholars who delve into various aspects of the composer's life and work. The high level of scholarship and readability of these pieces distinguish this volume, replete with insights into Puccini's musical development, his working methods, the evolution of his operatic characters and his relationships with his collaborators. Among the contributors are Harvey Sachs, who describes the composer's long friendship with the conductor Arturo Toscanini; Arthur Groos, who examines the genesis of Madame Butterfly and shows how Puccini and his librettists differed over the complex character of Pinkerton; and Mary Jane Phillips-Matz, who explores Puccini's representation of American frontier life in La fanciulla del West. Annotated bibliographies, a chronology of Puccini's life, a dramatis personae of the people who were important throughout his career, and an appendix with plot summaries enhance the book. Photos not seen by PW.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Puccini wins the prize for most-maligned great composer. In a fit of depressive self-deprecation, Puccini himself called his own music ``sugary,'' and the persistent popularity of his mature operas at box-offices around the world for nearly a century has too often provoked critical condescension, as if art so well-loved could not possibly be worth much. But that situation, thankfully, is changing, and this much-needed essay collection on Puccini by leading scholars of 19th- and 20th-century Italian opera is worth a good deal more than several new biographies. The volume ranges from a lengthy piece on Puccini's family by his granddaughter (one of the editors) to chapters devoted to Puccini's ``musical world'' and each of his operas by luminaries such as William Weaver, Harvey Sachs, Fedele D'Amico, Verdi heavyweights Mary Jane Phillips-Matz and Julian Budden, and William Ashbrook. A favorite: David Hamilton's expert investigation of the early Tosca recordings, especially the legendary ``Mapelson cylinders'' of live Metropolitan Opera performances from 1902-03, to see what light they shed on Puccini's original interpreters. The editors, perhaps hoping to attract non-musicologist admirers of the Luccan master, issue the disclaimer that ``this is not a work of scholarship'' (even though two of the chapters make a start on an accessible Puccini bibliography). They needn't have worried. Lovers of Puccini and Italian opera at every level of interest and knowledge will want this book. (Photographs--not seen) -- Copyright ©1994, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Puccini's operas are staples of the repertoire, regularly performed to an addicted public that, even after nearly 100 years, still clamors for La Boh{Š}eme, Tosca, Turandot, and Madama Butterfly. To that audience, this companion will be most welcome. It's a lively collection of articles by an assortment of top musicologists, music critics, and opera lovers whose coverage ranges from Puccini's early efforts at a symphonic style to the modernist implications of his final opus, the aforementioned Turandot. All the essays are thoroughgoing yet unpedantic, and together they manage to cover some aspect of each of his operas as well as several other topics, including his family background and general biography, his musical education, and the early manners of performing of his works. The editors conclude the volume with useful bibliographies, chronologies, plot summaries of individual works, and a directory of people involved with Puccini. Since many first come to classical music through a performance of a Puccini opera, this book might be of value to almost any library. John Shreffler