I am Giacomo Puccini (preview) by Edizioni Curci

P. Alessandro Polito, PhD, is a composer trained at the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, pianist, choir director, philosopher, author of musicological essays, comic book artist, and game designer. In 2004, he introduced Herr Kompositor®, the first music composition method in comic book form. He lives and teaches in Florence, Italy. His website is www.alessandropolito.com Laura Pederzoli, PhD, is an art historian with a degree in advertising graphics. She is involved in e-learning, visual and web design, has authored numerous publications on the subject and created the Matrice DUMAS® Certification. She has been a color artist and color designer for Herr Kompositor® since 2004. She lives and teaches in Florence, Italy. Her website is www.laurapederzoli.com

Story, script, drawings, inking, lettering, and layout: P. Alessandro Polito Color design, colors, inking, layout, backgrounds, and paintings: Laura Pederzoli English translation: Jed Jennings The authors and publisher thank Gabriella Biagi Ravenni, Simonetta Bigongiari, and Andrea Sani for their invaluable counsel. In association with CIDIM – Comitato Nazionale Italiano Musica. Ownership for all countries: Edizioni Curci S.r.l. - Galleria del Corso, 4 - 20122 Milan © 2024 by Edizioni Curci S.r.l - Milan All rights reserved EC 12452 / ISBN: 9788863954616 www.edizionicurci.it First printing in Italy in 2024 by Ciscra S.p.A., via S. Michele, 36 – 45020 Villanova del Ghebbo (RO)

P. Alessandro Polito - Laura Pederzoli

I am

GIACOMO PUCCINI A biography in comics

I LiVE iN AN AGE OF UPHEAVAL. I AM NOT LOVED BY THE AVANT-GARDE NOR BY THE CRiTiCS WHO CELEBRATE iT. BUT MY MUSiC COMMUNiCATES DiRECTLY WiTH THE AUDiENCE. WHiCH MAKES ME A ViCTiM OF MY OWN POPULARiTY AS WELL AS OF THE HOSTiLiTY OF CERTAiN ARBiTERS. I COMPOSED TWELVE OPERAS THAT HAVE MADE ME FAMOUS ALL OVER THE WORLD.

YET THE iNNOVATiON OF MY WORK iS ADMiRED BY SCHÖNBERG AND STRAViNSKY. I AM THE LAST OF A DyNASTY OF COMPOSERS, BUT THE FiRST TO ACHiEVE WORLDWiDE FAME.

I AM GiACOMO PUCCiNi.

A musical dynasty

I WAS BORN iN LUCCA ON DECEMBER 22, 1858. AT THAT TiME, MY CiTY BELONGED TO THE GRAND DUCHY OF TUSCANY, BUT BY 1860 iT HAD JOiNED THE CONSTiTUTiONAL MONARCHY OF ITALY.

MY HOME iS iN THE HEART OF THE ANCiENT CiTY CENTER. I WAS BAPTiZED HERE. MY FATHER MiCHELE CHOSE UNUSUAL NAMES FOR MY SEVEN SiSTERS (5 OLDER AND 2 YOUNGER THAN ME).

Otilia (1851-1923)

TOMAiDE (1852-1917)

Temi (1853-1854)

Nitteti (1854-1928)

Iginia (1856-1922)

Ramelde (1859-1912)

MACRiNA (1862-1870)

WE PUCCiNi ARE NEiTHER FARMERS NOR LABORERS. OUR iNCOME DEPENDS ON THE VALUE ATTRiBUTED BY THE PEOPLE OF LUCCA TO THE MUSiCAL PROFESSiON.

PALAZZO DUCALE (HOME OF THE PALATiNE MUSiC CHAPEL)

IN THE 18TH CENTURY, LUCCA GAVE BiRTH TO TWO COMPOSERS: FRANCESCO GEMiNiANi AND LUiGi BOCCHERiNi. BUT MY OWN FAMiLY’S PRESENCE iN LUCCA iS UNRiVALED. © 2024 by Edizioni Curci S.r.l. - Milano. Tutti i diritti sono riservati.

AFTER THE BACH FAMiLY, WHiCH GAVE THE WORLD SEVEN GENERATiONS OF PROFESSiONAL MUSiCiANS, COMES THE PUCCiNi FAMiLY, WiTH FiVE GENERATiONS. THE PUCCiNi ARE SERiOUS, WELL-TRAiNED, AND WE STUDY UNDER HiGhLY PRESTiGiOUS MASTERS.

CATHEDRAL OF SAN MARTiNO

I LEFT CELLE, WHERE I WAS BORN, TO STUDY iN BOLOGNA. IN 1739, I BECAME ORCHESTRA DiRECTOR OF DUCAL CHAPEL iN LUCCA, AND FROM 1740 I WAS ALSO THE ORGANiST OF SAN MARTiNO.

GiACOMO PUCCiNi SENiOR (1712-1781)

I STUDiED iN NAPLES WiTH PAiSiELLO, WHO TAUGHT ME THE SECRETS OF MELODRAMA. AND, LiKE MY ANCESTORS, I COMPOSED A VAST QUANTiTY OF MUSiC.

WHiLE GiACOMO SENiOR KNEW FATHER MARTiNi, I KNEW PAGANiNi.

ANTONiO PUCCiNi (1747-1832)

I ALSO STUDiED iN NAPLES AND I’M THE DiRECTOR OF THE MUSiC INSTiTUTE OF LUCCA. THE ROLES OF CHAPEL DiRECTOR AND CATHEDRAL ORGANiST HAVE BEEN iN OUR FAMiLY FOR 125 YEARS.

DOMENiCO PUCCiNi (1772-1815)

MiCHELE PUCCiNi (1813-1864)

MY BAPTiSM STARTED AT HOME AND WAS COMPLETED iN THE CATHEDRAL. TO CELEBRATE MY ARRiVAL, I WAS GiVEN THE NAMES OF ALL MY FOREBEARS.

GiACOMO ANTONiO DOMENiCO MiCHELE SECONDO MARiA!

MY SON WiLL BE A GREAT COMPOSER!

I LOST MY FATHER AT AGE 5. MY BROTHER, MiCHELE JUNiOR, WAS BORN THREE MONTHS AFTER HiS DEATH.

ALBiNA MAGi

IN 1864, iN THE CHURCH OF SS. GiOVANNi E REPARATA, I RECEiVED MY ARTiSTiC BAPTiSM FROM GiOVANNi PACiNi, WHO DELiVERED MY FATHER’S © 2024 by Edizioni Curci EULOGY S.r.l. - Milano. .Tutti i diritti sono riservati. 11

Portrait of Giacomo Puccini PUCCiNi HAD AN ANGULAR FACE, A HiGH BROW, AND A STRONG JAW.

IT WOULD HAVE BEEN EASiER JUST TO SAY I HAVE A BOXY HEAD! ONE EYEBROW WAS PERMANENtLY RAiSED A BiT HiGHER THAN THE OTHER.

HiS LiVELY AND CLEVER EYES WERE GRAYiSH-BROWN BUT WERE OFTEN WiSTFUL AND SAD.

TRY PUTTiNG YOURSELF iN MY SHOES! HiS CHiN WAS ELONGATED, HiS NOSE PROMiNENT, HiS MOUTH SMALL WiTH PROTRUDiNG UPPER TEETH.

IT’S CALLED “CHARiSMA”, THANK YOU!

AS A YOUNG MAN, HiS DARK BROWN HAiR WAS WAVY AND HiS WHiSKERS MORE PROLiFiC…

…COMPARED TO THE AMERiCANiZED LOOK OF HiS LATER YEARS.

HE WAS CORPULENT BUT BEGAN DROPPiNG WEiGHT iN 1903 WHEN HE WAS DiAGNOSED WiTH DiABETES.

DiSORGANiZED AND DiSHEVELED BY NATURE, HE MADE AN EFFORT TO APPEAR ELEGANT iN OFFiCiAL PHOTOgraphs.

Bibliography

People portrayed in this book

Abbate Carolyn, Parker Roger, Storia dell’opera, EDT Adami Giuseppe, Giacomo Puccini. Il romanzo della vita, Il Saggiatore Bagnoli Giorgio, Atlante dell’opera lirica, Demetra Barilli Bruno, Il paese del melodramma, Adelphi Bernardoni Virgilio, Puccini, Il Saggiatore Biagi Ravenni Gabriella (a cura di), Puccini Museum. La casa natale di Giacomo Puccini, Maria Pacini Fazzi Editore Biagi Ravenni Gabriella, Puccini e Lucca.“Quando sentirò la nostalgia della mia terra nativa”, Maria Pacini Fazzi Editore Bianconi Lorenzo, Il teatro d’opera in Italia, Il Mulino Budden Julian, Puccini, Carocci Editore Colletti Vittorio, Da Monteverdi a Puccini, Einaudi Cordisco Respighi Norberto, Giacomo Puccini, Bleu Nuit Éditeur Cresti Renzo, Giacomo Puccini e il postmoderno, Edizioni dell’Erba Delamarche Claire, Les grand compositeurs, Editions First Del Fiorentino Dante, Immortal Bohemian. An Intimate Memoir of Giacomo Puccini, Prentice-Hall, Inc. De Ranieri Oriano, La religiosità in Puccini, Zecchini Editore De Van Gilles, L’opera italiana, Carocci Deshoulières Christophe, L’opéra est un jeu, Editions J’ai lu Fabbri Paolo, Metro e canto nell’opera lirica, EDT Fagone Vittorio, Crespi Morbio Vittoria, La scena di Puccini, Maria Pacini Fazzi Editore Girardi Michele, Giacomo Puccini. L’arte internazionale di un musicista italiano, Marsilio Gobbi Cecilia, Nigro Nunzia, Il teatro e le sue storie, Curci Young Haas Régis, Le grands compositeurs et leurs oeuvres, Fuzeau Hodeir André, Les formes de la musique, Puf Kobbe Gustav, Dizionario dell’opera, Mondadori Lafitte Nicolas, Fichou Bertrand, Musique pas bête, Bayard Laurens Claire, L’histoire des grands compositeurs, La Libraire des écoles Marotti Guido, Giacomo Puccini intimo, Vallecchi Martino Daniele, Giacomo Puccini, Skira Editore Mila Massimo, Breve storia della musica, Einaudi Mioli Piero, Storia dell’opera lirica, Newton Compton Palacios René, Ma petite histoire de l’opéra, Palette Panichelli Pietro, Il pretino di Puccini, Edizioni Plus Pogue David, Speck Scott, Delamarche Claire, L’Opéra pour les nuls, éditions first Rescigno Eduardo, Dizionario Pucciniano, Ricordi Ross Alex, Listen to this, Fourth Estate Salvetti Guido, Storia della musica (vol. 10). La nascita del Novecento, EDT Schickling Dieter, Giacomo Puccini. La vita e l’arte, Felici Editore Scipioni Fabrizio, Puccini: La Bohème, Carocci Editore

Giuseppe Adami (1878-1946), author, playwright Franco Alfano (1875-1954), composer Carlo Angeloni (1834-1901), composer, teacher Antonio Bazzini (1818-1897), composer, violinist David Belasco (1853-1931), playwright Elvira Bonturi (1860-1930), wife of Giacomo Puccini Alfredo Catalani (1854-1893), composer Carlo Carignani (1857-1919), composer, conductor Enrico Caruso (1873-1921), tenor Nicolao Cerù (1815/17-1894), medical doctor Galileo Chini (1873-1956), painter, decorator Guelfo Civinini (1873-1954), journalist, author Dante Del Fiorentino (1889-1969), priest, author Franco Faccio (1840-1891), conductor Ferdinando Fontana (1850-1919), author of comedies, journalist Giovacchino Forzano (1883-1970), playwright, director Giuseppe Giacosa (1847-1906), playwright, author Adolf Hohenstein, (1854-1928), painter, set designer Luigi Illica (1857-1919), author, librettist Ruggero Leoncavallo (1857-1919), composer Albina Magi (1830-1884), mother of Giacomo Puccini Fortunato Magi (1839-1882), composer Pietro Mascagni (1863-1945), composer, conductor Claudia Muzio (1889-1936), soprano Giovanni Pacini (1796-1867), composer Pietro Panichelli (1869-1940), priest Amilcare Ponchielli (1834-1886), composer Giulio Ricordi (1840-1912), music publisher Tito Ricordi (1865-1933), music publisher Renato Simoni (1875-1952), playwright, journalist Lorenzo Sonzogno (1871-1920), music publisher Arturo Toscanini (1867-1957), conductor Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901), composer Richard Wagner (1813-1883), composer Anton Webern (1883-1945), composer Carlo Zangarini (1874-1943), journalist, librettist

(or, how to pay one’s debts and live happily)

Apple Music

Spotify

EXPLORE THE PLAYLiST ON APPLE MUSiC AND SPOTiFY!

Puccini Playlist to accompany the book (Piece, Performers, Album, Year)

A musical dynasty Casa mia, casa mia, Placido Domingo, Julius Rudel, The Unknown Puccini Songs, 1989 Portrait of Giacomo Puccini “Vissi d’arte” from Tosca, Callas, Orchestra del Teatro alla Scala di Milano, de Sabata, Puccini.Tosca, 1953 “The offspring of the cat catches the mouse” Agnus Dei from Messa, Castronovo, Tézier, Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg, Gimeno, Puccini. Messa di Gloria, 2023 Capriccio Sinfonico, Radio-Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Riccardo Chailly, Puccini. Orchestral Music, 1983 Trusted publishers and collaborators Crisantemi, Streichquartett der Staatskapelle Berlin, Verdi - Tchaikovsky - Puccini, 2022 First steps into the world of opera “Se come voi piccina io fossi...Non ti scordar di me” from Le Villi, Scotto, Domingo, National Philharmonic Orchestra, Maazel, Puccini. Le Villi,1980 Manon Lescaut Intermezzo from Manon Lescaut, The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, Levine, Puccini. Manon Lescaut, 1993 What is a lyric opera? “Quando men vo” from La Bohème. Quadro II, Gheorghiu, Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano Giuseppe Verdi, Coppola, Puccini. Angela Gheorghiu, 2004 “Che gelida manina” from La Bohème. Quadro I, Pavarotti, Berliner Philharmoniker, von Karajan, Puccini. La Bohème, 1973 La Bohème “Sì. Mi chiamano Mimì” from La Bohème. Quadro I, Freni, Berliner Philharmoniker, von Karajan, Puccini. La Bohème, 1973 “Sono andati? Fingevo di dormire” from La Bohème. Quadro IV, Freni, Pavarotti, Berliner Philharmoniker, von Karajan, Puccini. La Bohème, 1973 Tosca “Dammi i colori!... Recondita armonia” from Tosca, Di Stefano, Mercuriale, Orchestra del Teatro alla Scala di Milano, de Sabata, Puccini.Tosca, 1953 Madama Butterfly “Un bel dì vedremo” from Madama Butterfly, Gheorghiu, Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Pappano, Puccini. Madama Butterfly, 2009 Coro a bocca chiusa from Madama Butterfly, Coro e Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Pappano, Puccini. Madama Butterfly, 2009 A refuge in Torre del Lago Avanti Urania!, Placido Domingo, Julius Rudel, The Unknown Puccini Songs, 1989 La Fanciulla del West “Hello Minnie!”, from La Fanciulla del West, Tebaldi, MacNeil, Tozzi, Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Capuana, Puccini. La Fanciulla del West, 1958 La Rondine “Chi il bel sogno di Doretta” from La Rondine, Gheorghiu, London Symphony Orchestra, Pappano, Puccini. La Rondine, 1997 The Triptych “O Michele? Michele?” from Il Tabarro, Tebaldi, Merrill, Del Monaco, Orchestra del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Gardelli, Giacomo Puccini. Il Trittico, 1962 “Ave Maria, piena di grazia” from Suor Angelica, Tebaldi, Orchestra e Coro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Gardelli, Giacomo Puccini. Il Trittico, 1962 “Oh! mio babbino caro” from Gianni Schicchi, Tebaldi, Orchestra del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Gardelli, Giacomo Puccini. Il Trittico, 1962 Turandot “Nessun dorma!” from Turandot, Pavarotti, John Alldis Choir, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Mehta, Puccini. Turandot, 1973 “Wine, women, and tobacco…” © 2024 by Edizioni Curci S.r.l. - Milano. Tutti i diritti sono riservati. “Tu che di gel sei cinta” from Turandot, Caballè, Pavarotti, John Alldis Choir, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Mehta, Puccini. Turandot, 1973

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