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Gozitan Musician Meets Puccini’s Grand Daughter At Torre Del Lago |
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by Joseph Debrincat |
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Every opera lover dreams of visiting the mecca of Puccini’s opera – Torre del Lago Puccini which is about 25 km away from the composer’s birthplace, Lucca, in Tuscany. This dream came true for me recently when I also had the opportunity to meet Dr. Simonetta Puccini who is the composer’s grand daughter and president of the Istituto di Studi Pucciniani.
Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924) first went to Torre del Lago in June 1891. For several years he rented various houses in the village, but when his economic means permitted – after the success of Manon Lescaut (1893) and La Bohème (1896) – he bought the present dwelling which was turned into a museum.
At around the same time Puccini obtained permission to fill in that part of the lake in front of the villa so that a garden could be established, and a road constructed beyond the front fence. The elegant and sober house was equipped with all the latest fittings, from radiator heaters to telephone.
Puccini loved living at Torre del Lago, where he was able to go hunting and also enjoy the peace and quiet so essential for his work. It was at Torre del Lago that the composer wrote the majority of his operas: Manon Lescaut, La Bohème, Tosca, Madama Butterfly, La Fanciulla del West, La Rondine and Il Trittico.
The Maestro did most of his composing at night. Whenever he could, he went hunting; this pastime was particularly well catered for given the ideal location of the house. Puccini kept his boats moored in front of the railings; the lake and the marshes were the undisputed dominion of the composer and his hunting companions.
The Puccinis lived the simple life of an average middle-class family; the house was visited by the people of all social classes. The fishermen and the hunters of Torre del Lago were constant companions of the Maestro, as were those painters who lived in the vicinity and others who frequented the agreeable lacustrial locality.
In 1921 Puccini left Torre del Lago for Viareggio due to the advancing industry and political discontent which broke the peace of his beloved Torre del Lago. There he moved into a villa which he had had specially built in the new quarter of Marco Polo; the composer continued to live in Viareggio until 1924, the year of his death.
When Puccini died, his only son Antonio (1886-1946), Dr. Simonetta Puccini’s father, had a chapel constructed inside the villa at Torre del Lago. On 29 November 1926 Puccini’s remains were brought to the chapel and interred there. Subsequently Elvira, Antonio and Rita Puccini (Antonio’s second wife) were also laid to rest in the Torre del Lago chapel.
I first came in contact with Dr. Puccini in 1997 when I was doing my research for the B.A. (Hons.) degree thesis – Turandot: Heir – Rival to a Great Opera Tradition which was submitted at the University of Malta in June 1998. Apart from outlining Puccini’s exoticism, the genesis of Turandot, Puccini’s dramatic sense and the special presentation of the characters and the controversial issue of the final love duet, the thesis contains a chapter which outlines the history of Turandot in the Maltese islands.
I also presented a copy to Dr. Puccini and she was very eager to read the last chapter that in fact deals with Turandot in Malta. She promised me that in the near future she will also publish this chapter in the “Quaderni Puccini,” a periodical which is issued by the Istituto di Studi Pucciniani. She greatly appreciated the fact that Puccini’s operas are so well loved by the Maltese public. Her grandfather, she told me, possessed a postcard of Malta. In fact Puccini visited Malta in 1894 and here the British authorities arrested him on suspicion of being a spy when he was seen taking photographs of the naval fortifications.
I also presented her with a video copy of the opera Madama Butterfly featuring soprano Maria Pia Jonata and baritone Franco Giovine - regular participants at the Puccini Festival at Torre del Lago - at the Aurora Opera House in November 1997. Simonetta Puccini was very surprised that in Gozo there is such an artistic opera house. Besides, she was very pleased to discover the talents of Maltese soprano Miriam Gauci.
As a result of this meeting, I have already established contacts and Ms. Gauci is very willing to contribute her recorded Puccini’s operas to the Istituto di Studi Pucciniani CD library. I also presented Dr. Puccini with a hand-made piece of lace with the Maltese Cross which, I am pleased to say that Dr. Puccini placed in the museum at Torre del Lago. On her part, she presented me with the latest copy of the “Quaderni Pucciniani”.
Once there, I had also the opportunity to visit Lucca and the house where Puccini was actually born. Now this house has been turned into a museum. Apart from the first costume of the princess Turandot which was used for the première at La Scala, Milan in 1926 under the direction of Arturo Toscanini there is also the Steinway grand piano on which Giacomo Puccini turned out the immortal melodies of Calaf, Liù and the frigid princess Turandot.
Hopefully, this visit has helped to build a bridge between Puccini and our small island. In the future one hopes that this can be further strengthened through more research on Puccini’s influence on the local opera productions. |
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