Giacomo Puccini

贾科莫·安东尼奥·多米尼科·米歇尔·塞孔多·马利亚·普契尼（意大利语：Giacomo Antonio Domenico Michele Secondo María Puccini，1858年12月22日－1924年11月29日）是一位意大利的歌剧作曲家，著名的作品有《波希米亚人》、《托斯卡》与《蝴蝶夫人》等歌剧，也是世界上最常演出的歌剧之一[1][2]。这些歌剧当中的一些歌曲已经成为了现代文化的一部份，其中包括了《贾尼·斯基基》的《亲爱的爸爸》与《图兰朵》中的《今夜无人入睡》在内。
贾科莫·普契尼出生在意大利托斯卡纳卢卡的一个音乐世家。普契尼的父亲在他5岁时去世，所以他被送到叔叔福图纳托·梅吉（Fortunato Magi）那里来学习音乐，但是福图纳托却认为普契尼是个没有修养且粗俗的学生。后来普契尼成为卢卡教堂的风琴演奏家与唱诗班教师，但是直到观赏了著名的歌剧作曲家朱塞佩·威尔第的歌剧《阿依达》之后，普契尼才决定当一位歌剧作曲家，而为了欣赏这次歌剧演出，他与朋友徒步18.5英里（30公里）前往比萨。
他10岁开始当唱诗班歌童，14岁任教堂管风琴手。因为普契尼得到了奖学金与一位亲戚的帮助，于是在1880年进入米兰音乐学校（Milan Conservatory）就读，在浪漫派作曲家蓬基耶利（Amilcare Ponchielli）及巴齐尼（Antonio Bazzini）的指导下学习作曲。在普契尼21岁的这一年，他创作了《安魂曲》（Messa），标志着普契尼家族与卢卡的基督教音乐长久合作之下的颠峰。虽然普契尼将这部以天主教弥撒为背景的作品命名为安魂曲，但是现在却以《荣耀经弥撒》（Messa di Gloria）而闻名。这个名称是技术性的因为普契尼只谱写了常规弥撒的头两段（垂怜经Kyrie及荣耀经Gloria），而省略了信经、圣哉经和羔羊经。
这个作品也隐约透露普契尼成为剧作家的迹象，因为他在舞台上展现出了戏剧化力量。男高音与男低音的独唱者在 咏叹调上具有爆发力的演出，的确是比教堂音乐更加类似歌剧的。因为它所拥有的管弦乐编曲及戏剧般的力量，所以普契尼的《安魂曲》常常被拿来与威尔第的《安魂曲》（Requiem）相题并论。
在音乐学校就读期间，普契尼从丰塔纳（Ferdinando Fontana）那里得到了一个歌剧的剧本，并在1882年参加一次歌剧作曲竞赛。虽然后来普契尼并没有获胜，不过作品《群妖围舞》后来于1884年在米兰威尔姆剧院（Teatro Dal Verme）举行公演，而且获得黎柯笛公司（Casa Ricordi）黎柯笛（Giulio Ricordi）的注意。普契尼因为受到黎柯笛的委托，所以第2部歌剧《埃德加》（Edgar）于1889年公演。后来普契尼也与丰塔纳成为终生的好友。
普契尼在托瑞德拉古所创作的歌剧
普契尼的第3部歌剧《玛侬·莱斯科》（MANON LESCAUT）于1893年公演，获得巨大的成功。它连结了普契尼与剧作家雷基·伊利卡（Luigi Illica）及乔赛普·贾科萨（Giuseppe Giacosa）的关系。他们在接下来的3部歌剧共同合作，后来成为普契尼最知名的作品。这3部歌剧分别是：
《波希米亚人》：被认为是普契尼最成功的作品之一，同时也是历史上最传奇性的歌剧之一。
《托斯卡》：实际的描绘出真实生活的不同面向（包括暴力在内），可以说是普契尼第一部带有写实主义色彩的作品。因为它许多重要的特征，所以被认为是历史上最重要作品之一。
《蝴蝶夫人》：一开始被敌视（绝大部分是来自于对手），不过随着几次上演后，现在被认为是普契尼最成功的作品之一。
普契尼在1904年后的创作是越来越稀少，因为对于飙车的怀抱着热情，使得他几乎在1903年的一次车祸中身亡。贾科萨于1906年去世，然后在1909年爆发一件丑闻，因为妻子艾维拉对于他们的女佣曼佛迪（Doria Manfredi）与普契尼发生关系的不实指控，后来导致该女佣自杀。而艾维拉则遭到曼佛迪的家人控告成功，于是普契尼必须支付赔偿金。普契尼的出版商雷哥尔第在1912年过世之后，也结束了普契尼剧作家生涯中的多产时期。
不过普契尼还是在1910年完成《西部女郎》，然后在1917年完成了《燕子》（La rondine），这是一部普契尼重新作曲的轻歌剧，但是他发现这与他的风格及才华是格格不入。
《三联剧》（Il Trittico）在1918年于纽约首次公演，这部作品由3个部分所组成。第一个部份是《大衣》（Il Tabarro），属于恐怖的大吉尼奥尔（Grand Guignol）的风格；第二个部分是《修女安洁丽卡》（Suor Angelica），为感人的悲剧；第三个部分则是喜剧《贾尼·斯基基》（Gianni Schicchi）。《贾尼·斯基基》是3个部分最受欢迎的，包括著名的咏叹调：《亲爱的爸爸》。
歌剧作品
1884年：《群妖围舞》（Le Villi）
1889年：《埃德加》（Edgar）
1893年：《玛侬·莱斯科》（Manon Lescaut）
1896年：《波希米亚人》（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：《三联剧》（Il trittico）
1926年：《图兰朵》（Turandot）
Giacomo Puccini (full name:Giacomo Antonio Domenico Michele Secondo Maria Puccini) (Italian pronunciation: [ˈdʒaːkomo putˈtʃiːni]; 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
Problems listening to these files? See media help.
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