Puccini's birthday

Synopsis

Opera fanatics are a passionate lot. “It’s an addiction,” they say. “Something to die for.”

Now, if opera is an addiction, then today’s date marks the birthdate of an Italian composer who might be described as the ultimate operatic gateway drug. We’re talking, of course, about Giacomo Antonio Domenico Michele Secondo Maria Puccini, who was born in Lucca, in 1858.

Puccini is the composer of three of the most popular operas ever written: La Bohème (in 1896), Tosca (in 1900), and Madama Butterfly (in 1904).

Puccini lived and worked during the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th, and his music brilliantly blended the gorgeous melodies of the 19th century Italian bel canto tradition with the raw, often brutal dramatics of the emerging verismo, or “realism” theatrics of the 20th century.

Unlike 19th century operas, when time stands still while a soprano sings how happy (or miserable) she is, in Puccini’s operas time always moves on, often relentlessly as the action hurls toward the, usually, unhappy ending, when the soprano dies of consumption, throws herself off a castle tower, or dies by ritual suicide with a Japanese dagger.

After all, Puccini’s operas really are “something to die for.”

Music Played in Today's Program

Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924): “Pinkerton’s Farewell” and “The Death Of Butterfly” from Madama Butterfly; Kostelanetz Orchestra; Andre Kostelanetz, conductor; Columbia MDK 46285

On This Day

Births

• 1723 - German composer and gamba player Carl Friedrich Abel, in Cöthen

• 1821 - Italian composer, doublebass player and conductor Giovanni Bottesini, in Crema

• 1858 - Italian composer Giacomo Puccini, in Lucca

• 1874 - Austrian composer Franz Schmidt, in Pressburg (Bratislava)

• 1883 - French-born American composer Edgard (or Edgar) Varèse, in Paris

• 1885 - American composer and critic Deems Taylor, in New York City

• 1900 - British composer Alan Bush, in Dulwich, South London

• 1901 - Russian-born American conductor and arranger André Kostelanetz, in St. Petersburg

Deaths

• 1745 - Czech composer Jan Dismas Zelenka, age 66, during the night of December 22-23, age 66, in Dresden;

• 1950 - American composer and conductor Walter Damrosch, age 88, in New York City;

Premieres

• 1808 - Beethoven: Symphonies 5 and 6 along with the Choral Fantasy and the Piano Concerto No. 4, at the Theater an der Wien in Vienna, with composer as conductor and piano soloist

• 1837 - Lortzing: opera Zar und Zimmermann (Csar and Carpenter), in Leipzig at the Stadttheater

• 1888 - Brahms: Violin Sonata No. 3, in Budapest

• 1906 - Glazunov: Symphony No. 8, in St. Petersburg (Julian date: Dec. 9)