Here's something you might be interested in.
Having now admitted to being something of a dick, I think it is only right to spotlight some classical dicks now and then.
I must explain that nice guys write boring, if not downright crappy, music--or more accurately, no music at all.
If Giacomo Puccini weren't a dick, he couldn't have written the way he did.
Viewed with modern, American sensibilities, Puccini might seem like more than a dick.
The story is that in 1909, Puccini's wife Elvira publicly accused him of having an affair with their maid. Why else does one have a household maid?
The poor girl who was accused ended up committing suicide. The autopsy revealed that she was indeed a virgin and Puccini's wife was sentenced to serve five months in prison.
Elvira never went to prison because Puccini paid the maid's family off and then continued having an affair with the maid's cousin.
The maid was only a go between who delivered letters and whatnot.
Could a nicer Puccini have written such beautiful operas?
The true mistress was named Giulia Manfredi and she bore Puccini a son named Alfredo in 1923. This was an affair that went from at least 1909 to 1923. I think legally that's a second family--if second families were legal.
Puccini provided for his second family with a monthly stipend, but after his death the money stopped and Alfredo died in poverty in 1998.
Because of Puccini's infidelities, his legacy passed away from any direct descendants and now benefits the Italian Government. Many of his villas have become public museums. The copyright on his operas runs out in 2022.
Here's the thing with Puccini. He wrote La Boheme, Tosca, Madama Butterfly, and Turandot. Mention any one of those operas and a patron will claim it's one of their favorites.
I do not condemn Puccini. His music is indicative of his life. Is it a coincidence that the servant Liu kills herself to protect her master from the Ice Princess in Turandot?
What about Pinkerton who marries Butterfly only to return over a year later with his American wife? As he exits the penultimate scene, Pinkerton's last line is, "Ah son vil", I am vile.
Butterfly kills herself leaving her son in Pinkerton's care. It is not uncommon for an audience to boo the character and applaud the singer during the curtain call.
I do not wish Puccini had been someone with a middle class sentimentality. Those people don't write Addio fiorito asil or The Death of Liu.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yr1rqtOYtn8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V6iANY-zuTo
Having now admitted to being something of a dick, I think it is only right to spotlight some classical dicks now and then.
I must explain that nice guys write boring, if not downright crappy, music--or more accurately, no music at all.
If Giacomo Puccini weren't a dick, he couldn't have written the way he did.
Viewed with modern, American sensibilities, Puccini might seem like more than a dick.
The story is that in 1909, Puccini's wife Elvira publicly accused him of having an affair with their maid. Why else does one have a household maid?
The poor girl who was accused ended up committing suicide. The autopsy revealed that she was indeed a virgin and Puccini's wife was sentenced to serve five months in prison.
Elvira never went to prison because Puccini paid the maid's family off and then continued having an affair with the maid's cousin.
The maid was only a go between who delivered letters and whatnot.
Could a nicer Puccini have written such beautiful operas?
The true mistress was named Giulia Manfredi and she bore Puccini a son named Alfredo in 1923. This was an affair that went from at least 1909 to 1923. I think legally that's a second family--if second families were legal.
Puccini provided for his second family with a monthly stipend, but after his death the money stopped and Alfredo died in poverty in 1998.
Because of Puccini's infidelities, his legacy passed away from any direct descendants and now benefits the Italian Government. Many of his villas have become public museums. The copyright on his operas runs out in 2022.
Here's the thing with Puccini. He wrote La Boheme, Tosca, Madama Butterfly, and Turandot. Mention any one of those operas and a patron will claim it's one of their favorites.
I do not condemn Puccini. His music is indicative of his life. Is it a coincidence that the servant Liu kills herself to protect her master from the Ice Princess in Turandot?
What about Pinkerton who marries Butterfly only to return over a year later with his American wife? As he exits the penultimate scene, Pinkerton's last line is, "Ah son vil", I am vile.
Butterfly kills herself leaving her son in Pinkerton's care. It is not uncommon for an audience to boo the character and applaud the singer during the curtain call.
I do not wish Puccini had been someone with a middle class sentimentality. Those people don't write Addio fiorito asil or The Death of Liu.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yr1rqtOYtn8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V6iANY-zuTo