Book Description
Descended from four generations of distinguished composers and organists, Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924) was driven by family tradition and an ambitious mother to pursue a career that brought him worldwide recognition as the greatest composer of Italian opera after Giuseppe Verdi. But behind the brilliant creator of such lasting works as La Boheme, Tosca, Madama Butterfly, La Fanciulla del West, La Rondine, and Turandot, there was a person racked with indecision, self-doubt, bouts of depression, and private misfortunes.

In this beautifully written work, Mary Jane Phillips-Matz brings to life both the man and his circle. Setting Puccini's intriguing story within the worlds of his beloved Tuscany and the cutthroat opera business, the author follows the composer from boyhood in his ancestral Lucca, to his struggling student years at the Milan Conservatory, to his early successes and failures, to the artistic triumphs that earned him international celebrity and considerable wealth.

Filled with colorful details and anecdotes drawn from extensive primary sources as well as interviews with descendents, family friends, and colleagues, the book chronicles Puccini's personal sorrows and scandals, and recounts his stormy professional rivalries and associations in England, Europe, and the United States. Phillips-Matz also skillfully untangles the threads of the gifted artist's complex and contradictory character. She reveals a sophisticated composer who often drew upon exotic thematic material and an elegant cosmopolite who loved his several villas, expensive cars, boats, and fine clothes. Yet Puccini remained passionately wedded to the simple life of the Tuscan countryside of his youth. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Disappointing as a Biography
Puccini was reviewed as a wonderful account of Puccini's life and, while the author does tell us the events of his life, this account is less readable than most biographies I've read.She covers the facts of his life in a disjointed fashion.She will bring up a point and then say she will cover it in a later chapter, or she will say she covered it earlier.She arranges the chapters according to the operas he wrote, which is chronological, but the information she writes jumps around so much that it's distracting.The best biographies read as interestingly as the best fiction, and unfortunately this did not measure up.Puccini's life was certainly very interesting and this could have been a great book.Perhaps her editor should have done a better job.

Puccini: a restless visionist and revisionist
Having sung in "Tosca" and "Madama Butterfly", my interest was piqued when I first heard about Mary Jane Phillips-Matz's wonderful new biography about Giacomo Puccini. Using his operas as chapter divisions, the author gives a firm basis on which to look at Puccini's life as he struggled with his music, his collaborators, his family, his publisher, his singers, Arturo Toscanini and himself.

Restless and constantly on the move was Italy's greatest twentieth-century composer. The composer was not content to stay long in one place, she tells us. He had a house here, a house there; he didn't like this one, he longed to be at yet another one....this was no laboratory musician! Through the sharing of Puccini's letters (and he wrote unceasingly, it seems), Phillips-Matz offers us glimpses into the continual torment the composer faced, either from his own high standards and inabilities to finish projects to the endless revisions of present and past operas on which he was working. Puccini seemed to be under perpetual pressure. The author is careful not to be judgmental about her subect; in fact she includes a surprising number of revealing interviews that she, herself, conducted with singers who had performed Puccini operas and had worked with him in his later life.

Phillips-Matz's book is not so much a book about Puccini's music as it is about process. How did the composer go about choosing texts? What was he feeling when he composed? How did he envision the final outcomes of his operas? The relationships with those who were closest to him are perhaps the best aspects of this book, especially those with his wife and Toscanini. The author almost seems to be encouraging the reader by saying this: "here is what Puccini was like; now go hear his music and see what connections you can make."

Solid biography
Not as good--or as long--as her Verdi, Phillips-Matz's new bio of Puccini is solid and competent. She is at her best with scenery, at her weakest with the music. Though this biography will not soon replace Mosco Carner, it's worth the purchase price and the reader's time. ... Read more

Book Description
Performed by Vesselin Hristov, tenor Accompaniment: Plovdiv Philharmonic Orchestra Conductor: Nayden TodorovGreat Puccini arias for tenor - need we say more? Spectacular pieces from these romantic classics, sung by Vesselin Hristov and then given again by the Plovdiv Philharmonic Orchestra minus you, the great tenor! Includes a printed vocal score on high-quality ivory paper, with informative liner notes; and a CD+G graphics-enabled compact disc with complete versions (with soloist) followed by stereo orchestral accompaniments to each piece, minus the soloist. ... Read more

Book Description
Italian/English. Translated by Elkin. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

A Modern Golden Recording
What makes this "Girl frm the Gold West" so golden is the mastership of all the forces behind it - conductor Zubin Mehta, tenor Placido Domingo, soprano Carol Neblitt and baritone Sherill Milnes. This recording dates from the 80's, which was still a terrific period for Mehta, Domingo, Neblitt, eventhough at this time Sherill Milnes was facing some vocal decline. The 80's modern studio recording advantages is what makes this a superb interpretation. The pacing is dramatic, thrilling and lyrical when warranted. This is probably Puccini's most exotic opera. Butterfly was set in Japan but was still pretty Italian under the surface. In Butterfly, the Japanese-Italian mix was also suffused with slight Americana (the American national anthem changed to "America Forever") but here we are treated to an entirely different animal. This is the Old West and Puccini's Italian style is nearly sacrificed for what could pass for an American opera or even a Broadway musical. This does not mean that this is not an operatic treasure. The music is exquisite. The lead soprano role of Minnie is a voice-killer, and presents many challenges to the soprano. In truth, it takes a soprano capable of Turandot to sing Minnie. As far as I'm concerned, only one soprano truly nailed the role- Birgit Nilsson. On stage, her mannerisms and her voice was the very character that Puccini envisioned. Birgit Nilsson is featured in a 60's recording of this opera which captured her in her prime and her portrayal is the best there is, closest to the original soprano who premiered the role opposite Enrico Caruso back at the turn of the century - Emmy Destin. Nilsson probably possessed a bigger instrument than Destin. Still Neblitt does an excellent job with what she has in her favor -a rich Puccini voice. She may struggle with the high tessitura but she is simply ravishing in the lyrical segments. She sounds like a kind of American Tosca. More than any other tenor, Placido Domingo possessed a voice that could essay any character in any opera and I seriously mean that. He is Enrico Caruso's reincarnation and his performance as Dick Johnson is a tribute to Caruso's style. He has the dramatic heft and the voluminous beauty of tone to sing each line. It helped that Domingo looked very handsome in the 80's so that when he sang the heroic and romantic leads, he could pass for a movie star who could also sing opera. As Johnson, he looks dashing (if he looked like he does on the cover of this album). Sherill Milnes was in the final phase of his career but in this opera he holds out till the end in his usual flair. He was a fine exponent of Puccini, as his Scarpia attests, and he is nuanced and even a bit comical on this recording. Verdi baritone parts are far more challenging than the almost static Puccini baritone parts so this role presented no problem to the aging Milnes. Zubin Mehta conducts with brilliant technical mastership and delivers some subtleties as well. Thank you Deutsche Grammophone for the great music.

Puccini's Most "Modern" Opera
I was fortunate enough to see Domingo and Neblett sing this opera at Covent Garden in mid 1977, so I was delighted to find the recording.(I don't remember Sherill Milnes in the role of Rance, but maybe he wasn't so famous back then!)This is Puccini's next-to-last work, and his spikiest opera, with more modern tonalities than the lush melodies of his earlier works.Even "Turandot", his last opera, brought back some of his earlier style.It is an opera that improves as it goes along, with some really great duets between Minnie and Johnson in the final scenes.
This production is excellently sung, with Domingo in wonderful young voice, and Milnes doing a superb job humanizing the evil sheriff.The soprano role is vocally very rough on the artist--Leontyne Price came famously to grief singing it at the Met in the mid '60s.Carol Neblett does a very credible job in this role.Although her Italian diction isn't the best, she sings with real intensity and security.Mehta may not be the most refined or elegant opera conductor, but he always gives a good show, and that's the case here.But the real star of this production is Milnes.This set belongs in any opera lover's collection.

one MAJOR flaw in this recording
This is one of Sherrill Milnes' best recordings, and although I am not usually a Domingo fan, he is youthful and quite fabulous here. Zubin Mehta is brilliant. Carol Neblett is the weakest link here, she simply has no power, and does not carry the role. This is more painfully evident when matched with Milnes and Domingo. I gave away my copy of this set.
Decca has finally rereleased the studio recording of Fanciulla with Tebaldi, del Monaco, and MacNeil. This is the set to purchase!

Wonderful but...
This past year I have been addicted to La fanciulla del west.I would definitely include it in my all-time favorites, let's say Top Ten.Magnificent music.And a well told story.The only apparent problem it has is that it needs a great soprano with a huge voice.Many commentators have commented that the soprano role is extremely difficult, which they attribute to its high-flying range.But after listening to it often I propose that it is difficult for another reason: the orchestra does not support her lines.Perhaps I state it badly; in Turandot's In questa reggia, the music soars with her, and her melody is also present in the music.In Fanciulla she must go it alone.It means that her vocal line must compete against some of the most glorious and dramatic music in existence; and not only is she pitted against the orchestra but against the supported tenor, the baritone, and the all-male chorus!

This recording is very good.Domingo is ideal as Johnson. Zubin Mehta conducts Puccini brilliantly: well-paced, colorful, passionate, sparkling.Milnes sings with all his assets of a beautiful, a dark, and a ringing voice.And Carol Neblett sings firmly with all the notes.But her singing seems as if it is for a supporting role not as if she were the vocal track for Liberty Leading the People, she doesn't command the opera.

Probably the best Fanciulla, with good sound, is with Tebaldi, Del Monaco, MacNeil, and with Capuana conducting.Though Tebaldi is not one of my favorite singers she has a magnificent voice--that seems to give her whatever she asks of it.She also sings with passion and sensitivity.Del Monaco is not great with character but he has a wonderful ringing sound and a big male persona.I think he is excellent here.MacNeil as Rance is very solid; he sings with a beautiful line.

Unfortunately, there isn't a completely knockout studio recording.

Indulge me in my only musical fantasy.I would have liked, as dream cast, Domingo, Mehta, Gobbi, and Jessye Norman.I think she would do justice to the role and perhaps she will.

IT JUST DOESN'T GET BETTER THAN THIS!
Although recorded in 1978 the result remains the finest audio production to date. Set in Northern California during the 1840's gold rush, Zubin Mehta treats Puccini's unique western masterpiece with undaunting artistic care as Placido Domingo (Dick Johnson), Carol Neblett (Minnie) and Sherrill Milnes (Jack Rance) exceed their own extraordinary talents in bringing their characters to life. Supported by a magnificent cast, one in particular deserves high mention. Gwynne Howell, bass, portraying the roving minstrel (Jake Wallace) in the first act, showers the listener with a velvet voice that is pure luxury. His beautiful and haunting aria not only depicts the loneliness and homesickness of the camp's miners, but is one you will want to listen to over and over again. The only regret is that Puccini did not compose more arias for the Jake Wallace role.

Focusing upon a pistol packing saloon barmaid who's won the hearts and respect of the local gold miners, plus the sudden arrival of bandits and her involvement with their leader, Minnie's life is thrown into turmoil as a potential lynching lurks ahead.This is an opera setting, that also includes Native American characters, that deserves far more attention than it receives. The music is exquisite and the artists are all top notch. This recording is a true gem that should not be overlooked. ... Read more

Book Description

Product Description
Collection of famous Operatic Arias. ... Read more

Book Description
Puccini is the most beloved composer of opera in the world: one quarter of all opera performances in the U.S. are of his operas, his music pervades movie soundtracks, and his plots have infiltrated our popular culture. But,although Puccini’s art still captivates audiences and the popularity of such works as Tosca, La Boh?me, and Madama Butterfly has never waned, he has long been a victim of critical snobbery and cultural marginalization.
In this witty and informative guide for beginners and fans alike, William Berger sets the record straight, reclaiming Puccini as a serious artist. Combining his trademark irreverent humor with passionate enthusiasm, Berger strikes just the right balance of introductory information and thought-provoking analysis. He includes a biography, discussions of each opera, a glossary, fun facts and anecdotes, and above all keen insight into Puccini’s enduring power. For anyone who loves Puccini and for anyone who just wonders what all the fuss is about, Puccini Without Excuses is funny, challenging, and always a pleasure to read.

INCLUDES:
_ Why Puccini’s art and its message of hope is crucial to our world today
_ How Anglo audiences often miss the mythic significance of his operas
_ The use of his music as shorthand in films, from A Room with a View to Fatal Attraction
_ A scene-by scene analysis of each opera
_ A guide to the wealth of available recordings, books, and videos ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

The author understands that opera is the greatest art form.
I am doing research for a program to be given during a Great Operatic Moments by Puccini concert with the Heartland Chamber Chorale and this book not only helped in preparation of this program, it was fun to read and well organized.Having heard many operas, including three where the singer was mute and walked the role while the voice came from the orchestra pit, I am familiar with many performances of Puccini.This book will enhance my next time at La Boheme (Lyric Opera, Chicago).I believe this is the book which will help anyone hear Puccini for the first time and delight the experienced listener. Funny and informative.

A decent introduction
I would only recommend this book to someone beginning to explore Puccini who was desperate for a guidebook.With the exception of the useful biography in the beginning there is not much in here that one could not discover on their own by listening to recordings of the operas.
I found most of the commentary shallow.
Potential buyers should know that most of this book is a summary of Puccini's major operas (Edgar is not included).
Part Three, "The Puccini Code" is quite disappointing.I had hoped I would gain some deeper appreciation for Puccini but I came away unsure that there was anything I did not discover on my own.

Sometimes, Berger could not help taking unwarranted strikes at Wagner.This is strange for someone who wrote a book about Wagner and certainly knows better than to resort to clichés about his operas.At one point he even suggests that racial purity is a theme in Wagner's opera.If there are arguments to be made here, they should be made and not stuck in, unjustified, in a book on Puccini.He levels a similarly unjustified charge of racism on some of Puccini's critics.Mispronouncing "Turandot" . . . "slightly racist."

My advice, save your money and buy recordings or tickets.Puccini's brilliance is there.You do not need Berger to hold your hand through the process.

An amazing, long-overdue book!
Finally, someone has validated Puccini's worth as a composer!While other attempts have been made at this, they tend to take an approach that is very objective and scholarly.While this is one way to approach an analysis of music, this book's straightforward, at times downright blunt, approach is a refreshing antidote to the overly cerebral tone of many other books.Puccini knew all the 'rules' of composition and chose to ignore or modify many of them in order to get to the raw emotions of his characters and audiences alike.It has long been my feeling that anyone who claims not to enjoy Puccini's works is either too caught up in academic snobbery or too afraid of his/her emotions to feel the beauty of his works.This book is a vindication for not only Puccini and his operas but for his fans and those who perform his works.

Puccini with Many Excuses - Not That He Needs Them
William Berger has written a book for operatic neophytes (as he did in his previous books 'Wagner Without Fear' and 'Verdi with a Vengeance') who want to learn more about opera in general and about Puccini in particular, and yet who have little background with which to understand a full-length book about the life and works of a single composer. I am no operatic neophyte, but I learned much from this book and was completely engaged throughout, even when I was disagreeing with some of the author's points. Make no mistake, Berger has a charming, informal, chatty style that sweeps the reader up into Puccini's world. My only real complaint about the book is that Berger seems to protest too much about Puccini's worth. He takes up the cudgels against those pedantic critics and musicologists who cast aspersions on Puccini's artistic value.It strikes me that the neophyte is not all that interested in this battle in the first place and that this is a battle long since won anyhow. No matter, Berger gets in plenty of blows for Puccini, probably more than Puccini actually needs these days.

The book has several sections. After a somewhat tendentious introduction, we get a chatty yet informative life and times chapter which also includes a description of what was going on in the wider world of opera and classical music during Puccini's life. There are fascinating comments about, say, the relationship between Puccini and Toscanini in this section.

Then we get a chapter by chapter discussion of each of the mature operas, beginning with Manon Lescaut and ending with Turandot. Each opera's chapter has an exhaustive discussion of each scene of the stage action, followed by really quite wonderful ruminations on the musical and production issues of each scene. Berger's comments are generally witty and almost always spot on. He also manages to include some of the gossip extant about various productions, singers, stage directors and conductors.

Then comes a section called 'The Puccini Code' which focuses on the myth of Tosca (one of the weaker chapters in my opinion), 'what one might expect to see' in various productions, and a little coda called 'Puccinian Permutations' which comments on influences the various operas (and the Puccini style) have had on popular culture; think of 'Rent' and 'Moonstruck',for instance.

Finally, there is a section in which Berger discusses recordings of the major operas, with comments about various singers, conductors (and he pulls no punches here) as well as some mention of DVDs and videotapes. He ends this section with a listing and comments about important books onhis subject. The book ends with a glossary of terms (helpful for the neophyte, certainly, but without a pronunciation guide, which he had earlier supplied for the names of the operas; that might have been helpful. Can you pronounce 'morbidezza' or 'Regietheater'?). The book contains a fairly full index. Editing and production values are quite good (although I suspect director Jean-Pierre Ponnelle and baritone Simon Keenlyside might have preferred their names be spelled correctly). The paperback's cover features a blow-up of a photo of the young Puccini taken from a 'musical celebrities cigarette card series.' (!)

I would recommend this book not only to the newcomer to opera but also to grizzled opera veterans who think they already know everything there is to know about Puccini.

Scott Morrison

opera revealed
Rebeccasreads highly recommends PUCCINI WITHOUT EXCUSES as one of the more unusual books you'll read about the popular culture of the late 19th & early 20th centuries. It is neither heavy-handed nor trivial because William Berger has a delightful sense of humor & an engaging way of expressing his passion - opera!

If you're a movie buff, you'll have heard snatches of a Puccini aria or musical interlude from THE GODFATHER III to MOONSTRUCK, & if you listen to any of this genius' legacy: LA BOHEME, MADAME BUTTERFLY, TOSCA, & his other five operas, you'll find the music quite familiar.

You'll find out why William Berger thinks Puccini is relevant in today's world in his analyses of the eight operas, the last of which is the unfinished TURANDOT. & you'll also find that Puccini's life was itself worthy of... a soap opera.

Even as I was enjoying the read, I learnt a lot -- about the history of the times, music, collaborations & domestic drama. Bravo! ... Read more

Book Description
We're proud to present new sheets featuring this beautiful Puccini piece. Includes a plot synopsis of the opera Turandot. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Sheet music for Turandot "Nessun Dorma"
This is a wonderful rendition of the piece. Easy to play for any level of experience on the piano. I'm personally not a huge fan of opera, but I simply love this piece of music and was extremely happy to have found a simple to understand version without a lot of orchestral notes in the arrangement. Beautifully elegant in its simplicity. ... Read more

Book Description
Piano solo arrangements of 38 inspired selections from 9 Puccini operas: La Boheme, La Fanciulla del West, Gianni Schicchi, Madama Butterfly, Manon Lescaut, Suor Angelica, Tosca, Turandot and Le Villi. Includes plot notes for each opera, information on its premiere, listings of librettists, pronunciation guides, and more. ... Read more

Book Description
Who needs a singer? With Play Puccini, instrumentalists can bathe themselves in luxurious Italian melody! These ten opera arias are among the composer's most famous and distinctive achievements, here transcribed for intermediate level solo instrument and piano. The book includes a biography of Puccini, notes about the plot of each opera, and the dramatic context of the selected aria. The companion CD features excellent performances, as well as piano accompaniments for practice. Includes arias from: La Boheme, La Fanciulla Del West, Gianni Schicchi, Madama Butterfly, Manon Lescaut, Suor Angelica, Tosca and Turandot. ... Read more

Book Description
The Black Dog Opera Library is one of the most popular, informative, and budget-friendly ways to enjoy all the great operas. Each book in the series includes a history of the opera, a synopsis of the story, a complete libretto in its original language as well as in English, and dozens of photographs and drawings depicting great scenes, singers, performances, and more. Each book also includes an excellent Angel/EMI recording of the entire opera on two CDs, as well as commentary from experts in the field who guide you through the music as you listen. All of this for less than twenty dollars! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Magnificent!
The two CDs that come with the book are very good, and the book tells you the entire story of this wonderful, wonderful Opera.

I recommend it for those who are preparing to see the performance for the first time, or perhaps for those who want to enjoy it as I do, time and againafter the performance.

I find the Black Dog opera series of books with CDs a great resource ... Read more

Book Description
What forces helped shape the output of this high-living, often arrogant, but immensely talented composer? This fascinating collection includes Simonetta Puccini's essay full of intimate details about her family, as well as writings by experts on the racist politics behind the creation of Madama Butterfly; Puccini's fascination with American culture as exemplified in Fanciulla del West; his grappling with twentieth-century musical practices in Trittico and Turandot; and the changes that early recording technology sparked in turn-of-the-century operatic performance style. ... Read more

Book Description

Customer Reviews (1)

Inexpensive but not without errors/omissions
Just started work on the Act I duet (Mario! Mario! Mario!) and have found an incorrectly notated dotted quarter-note. Little things like that make me wish I had spent a few more dollars on the Ricordi edition. My rating is higher than one star only because the price is low. ... Read more

Book Description
This book is intended primarily as a guide for the opera goer. It includes a synopsis of the plot, with indications of the themes and motifs used in it, and discusses the style of the opera, Toscabeing a typical example of Italian naturalism in operas, verismo. It compares Puccini's libretto with Sardou's play La Tosca, analyses the close-knit structure of the work and examines salient points in the music. It also describes the genesis of the work (quoting wherever appropriate, Puccini's own remarks about it), its first production and early reception. A subsidiary aim of the book is to present the opinions, positive and negative, that have been expressed by various critics about the opera since its first production in 1900. There are contributions from the celebrated singer and producer of Tosca Tito Gobbi, and two other musicologists, Roger Parker and William Ashbrook. Malcolm Walker has provided a discography. ... Read more

Book Description

Customer Reviews (1)

A great book and great music!
This book contain the greatest Puccini`s Opera la Fanciulla del West in full score. La Fanciulla del West is a great opera and you will foundbeautifull music on this book. If you like to read music and Opera you willfound great music score on this book. ... Read more

Book Description
This series features: * Carefully selected masterworks from the orchestral, concerto, and concert piano repertoire of the great composers * Arrangements skillfully excerpted and edited for pianists of moderate technical ability * Arrangements faithful to the composer's harmony, counterpoint, and melody - preserving the essence of the original work * Arrangements by Lawrence Rosen ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

The best resource for Puccini's operas
William Ashbrook's "The Operas of Puccini" is an accurate, gracefully written, and thoroughly interesting account of its subject.For each opera, Ashbrook methodically examines literary sources, discusses relevant biographical evidence, and analyzes musical "fingerprints" of Puccini's style.Ashbrook clearly loves his subject (which cannot be said for Charles Osborne, whose similar but extremely sour account cannot hold a candle to Ashbrook's).I frequently return to Ashbrook's text to check some detail or merely to reacquaint myself with an opera I haven't seen recently, and I always come away from the book with renewed respect for its author and subject.In the tradition of Ashbrook's magisterial account of the life of Donizetti, "The Operas of Puccini" is a cornerstone text for opera fans. ... Read more