Word: puccini
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...Giacomo Puccini, whose operas probably earned him more money than any other serious composer ever made,* began by writing church music, including a Mass at the age of 21. Italian experts who heard his Mass performed in 1880 liked it pretty well. True, they felt it suffered a bit from "overabundance," and, at a time when the trend was to disembodied church music, they raised their eyebrows because some parts did not seem musically "chaste" enough. But they praised its "spontaneous melodies," predicted a fine future for its composer. Thereupon, the Mass fell into obscurity. It was not until last...
...three quarters of an hour, Conductor Alfredo Antonini led his forces through Puccini's composition; there were 185 voices of the Swedish Choral Club, a 75-piece orchestra and three male soloists. Lovers of La Bohème and Tosca recognized in the youthful sacred work hints of those later sensuous operas. Listeners familiar with the composer's Manon Lescaut got a bit of a turn at the end: the peaceful Agnus Dei of the Mass was note-for-note identical with Manon's madrigal...
...Puccini: Tosco (Maria Caniglia, Beniamino Gigli, Armando Borgioli; chorus and orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Rome, conducted by Oliviero de Fabritis; Victor Treasury series, 4 sides LP). Puccini's fieriest, reissued in the fine, robust performance that was a pre-LP highlight. Recording: good...
...Opera Theater (Thurs. n p.m., NBC). Puccini's Gianni Schicchi, with Herbert, Haskins, Marshall...
...Puccini: La Bohème (Licia Albanese, soprano; Jan Peerce, tenor; the NBC Symphony Orchestra, Arturo Toscanini conducting; Victor, 4 sides LP). This recording of the Maestro's 1946 broadcast will make opera fans regretfully aware of how seldom they hear a first-rate performance of Bohème. Toscanini, who conducted the world premiere in 1896, gives it a rare force, clarity and subtlety. The singers are all in fine voice-including amateur Baritone Toscanini, whose hoarse old bawling can be clearly heard accompanying the principals in several passages. Recording: excellent. A new recording of Tosco, (Cetra-Soria...