Book contents
- Puccini in Context
- Composers in Context
- Puccini in Context
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Table
- Notes on Contributors
- Preface
- Part I Formative Influences
- Part II Puccini’s Places
- Part III Influences and Interests
- Part IV Bringing Puccini to the Stage
- Chapter 14 Puccini’s Librettists
- Chapter 15 Music Publishing in Puccini’s Italy
- Chapter 16 Puccini’s Theatrical Vision
- Chapter 17 Puccini’s Singers
- Chapter 18 Puccini’s Conductors
- Part V Image and Reputation
- Part VI Puccini through a Political Lens
- Part VII Interpreting Puccini
- Part VIII Legacy
- Bibliography
- Index
Chapter 17 - Puccini’s Singers
from Part IV - Bringing Puccini to the Stage
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 31 August 2023
- Puccini in Context
- Composers in Context
- Puccini in Context
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Table
- Notes on Contributors
- Preface
- Part I Formative Influences
- Part II Puccini’s Places
- Part III Influences and Interests
- Part IV Bringing Puccini to the Stage
- Chapter 14 Puccini’s Librettists
- Chapter 15 Music Publishing in Puccini’s Italy
- Chapter 16 Puccini’s Theatrical Vision
- Chapter 17 Puccini’s Singers
- Chapter 18 Puccini’s Conductors
- Part V Image and Reputation
- Part VI Puccini through a Political Lens
- Part VII Interpreting Puccini
- Part VIII Legacy
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
This chapter discusses the singers who first performed Puccini’s operatic roles, or who were well-known interpreters of them in revivals during his lifetime. Singers discussed include Cesira Ferrani, Rosina Storchio, Giovanni Zenatello, Eugenio Giraldoni, Florence Easton, Giuseppe Cremoni, Evan Gorga, Emilio de Marchi, Giuseppe de Luca, Miguel Fleta, Tito Schipa, Geraldine Farrar, Emmy Destinn, Enrico Caruso, and Rosa Raisa. The author notes that by Puccini’s time, singers had far less agency in creating roles than their predecessors from the early nineteenth-century had had. Nevertheless, Puccini had a clear sense of the type of singer he wanted for a particular role. The author reveals that the singers who took on Puccini’s roles had extensive repertoires and were comfortable interpreting the music of a wide range of composers. Many were also to be found working across continents, travelling between opera houses on either side of the Atlantic and enjoying a degree of celebrity and renown previously unknown, partly because of opportunities in recording and film.
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- Puccini in Context , pp. 137 - 144Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2023