La Bohème - San Francisco Opera

Composer: Giacomo Puccini
10
1858 – 1924
Giacomo Antonio Domenico Michele Secondo Maria Puccini is
considered one of the greatest opera composers of all time.
Born in Lucca, Italy on December 22, 1858, to a family made
of generations of musicians, Puccini quickly followed in their
footsteps and was enrolled at the Instituto Musicale as a pupil
of Carlo Angeloni. Though he was a mischievous young boy,
he learned fast and soon became an Puccini was always
fooling around. He
organist in nearby churches. After writing two ambitious choral
would purposely
works, which were enthusiastically received by the townspeople, sing wrong notes in
choir and add
Puccini became something of a local celebrity. In 1880 he left his
notes to his serious
hometown fame to pursue further studies in Milan. He attended the organ music.
Milan Conservatory, where his teachers included Antonio Bazzini
and Amilcare Ponchielli. Ponchielli aroused Puccini's love for the stage and directed him
toward writing operas, but it was not until he saw Verdi’s Aida that Puccini truly found a love for
the opera. Jumping on this opportunity, Ponchielli had a friend
La Scala is one of the
provide Puccini with a suitable libretto, then urged him to set it to most famous and
influential opera
music and submit it in the Sonzogno contest for one-act operas.
houses in Milan. To
Puccini’s first opera, Le Villi, did not win the prize. However, this day composers
dream to have their
when it was introduced at the Teatro dal Verme in Milan in 1884
work shown there.
it was so successful that La Scala accepted it for their following
season, and Ricordi published the score. Ricordi also commissioned a second opera, Edgar,
but it was unfortunately a failure when given at La Scala on April 21, 1889. It was not until
Puccini was in his thirties that his third opera, Manon Lescaut, gave him sudden fame. His
following operas - La bohème, in 1896, and Tosca, in 1900 - brought him universal recognition
as Verdi's successor.
In 1903 Puccini was seriously hurt in an automobile accident, but was able to use this
time productively and worked on his next opera, Madama Butterfly. Premiered at La Scala on
February 17, 1904, Madama Butterfly was the greatest failure Puccini experienced. Yet after