Epistolario I, 1877-1896

The first volume contains 784 letters, 150 of which are published for the first time. The majority of the others have been newly transcribed, corrected through comparison with their sources, or with improved dating in the frequent cases of undated autographs. The collection conveys an image of twenty years in the life and career of Giacomo Puccini marked by radical changes. It documents the interlaced relationships with his friends and family, the ambition and difficulties he endured to sustain them, his brave existential choices. On the professional side, it illustrates the final part of his studies and his artistic growth, from Le Villi, to Edgar, to the first undisputed success of Manon Lescaut, to the final consecration of La Bohème. The letters included in this volume are also documents of the creation of Puccini’s peculiar writing qualities. The variety of addressees and of themes is matched, in fact, by a variety of tones and styles. Tender, friendly, confidential tones alternate with formal, professional, deferential, or even soapy accents. The letters mix everyday chronicles, common requests, scholarly quotes, bawdy language, and invectives. A penchant for poetry appears in the recurring rhymes that peep out in his prose, transforming the letters in poems, especially as a reply to other poetical messages. A strong graphic inspiration shines through his habit of using pictures instead of some key words, and through his original use of the space of sheets and postcards. Published by Olschki, Florence