Poging GOUD - Vrij

'Without fever there is no creation'

Country Life UK

|

September 11, 2024

Three of the top 10 operas performed worldwide are by the emotionally volatile Italian composer Giacomo Puccini, who died a century ago. Henrietta Bredin explains how his colourful life influenced his melodramatic plot lines

- Henrietta Bredin

'Without fever there is no creation'

GIACOMO PUCCINI was an ad- man’s dream—Mad Men’s Peggy Olson and Don Draper would have recruited him for a photographic campaign on the spot. He possessed saturnine good looks, a twirly moustache, a casually graceful way with a cigarette, flamboyant dress sense (he had a fine hat collection) and was a keen game shot, as well as an early adopter of the motorized vehicle. The cars almost killed him and the cigarettes did: he had a near-fatal car accident in 1903 that left him with a permanent limp and he died in 1924, aged 65, after horribly painful treatment for throat cancer at a Brussels clinic.

This year marks the 100th anniversary of his death and has seen even more performances of his enduringly popular operas than usual. Of the top 10 most performed operas around the world, three are by Puccini: La bohème, Tosca and Madama Butterfly. Two of his best-loved tunes, The Humming Chorus from Butterfly and the aria O mio babbino caro (Gianni Schicchi), will feature in the Last Night of the Proms this weekend on September 14.

imageMusic ran in the family—on his father’s side, he came from a dynasty of church musicians in his home town of Lucca. After the early death of his father, Michele, Puccini was expected to follow in his footsteps as an organist, but, despite his mother Albina’s unshakeable belief in his outstanding natural gifts, displayed little talent or interest. His school reports singled him out as being ‘conspicuously lazy’; reluctantly, he became a choirboy in the church choir and, from the age of 14, played the organ for services.

MEER VERHALEN VAN Country Life UK

Country Life UK

Country Life UK

Dogged work uncovers Rembrandt secret

ALTHOUGH history doesn't record how passionate Rembrandt van Rijn was about dogs, he clearly liked them enough to feature them in several of his paintings, such as his Self-portrait in Oriental Attire with Poodle (1631-33).

time to read

1 min

October 08, 2025

Country Life UK

Country Life UK

The royal treatment

Edward VII swept away the cobwebs of mid-Victorian style, Queen Mary had passion for all things small and the Queen Mother bought rather avant-garde art. In a forthcoming talk, Tim Knox, director of the Royal Collection, charts a century of regal taste

time to read

3 mins

October 08, 2025

Country Life UK

Country Life UK

The garden for all seasons

The private Worcestershire garden of John Massey

time to read

5 mins

October 08, 2025

Country Life UK

When in Rome

For anyone considering tweaking pasta alla carbonara-a work of art as fine as the Trevi Fountain-the answer is always: non c'è modo! Or is it, asks Tom Parker Bowles

time to read

3 mins

October 08, 2025

Country Life UK

The scoop

\"The planned article was on the damson harvest; instead, we got Donald Trump's ally's taps turned off\"

time to read

3 mins

October 08, 2025

Country Life UK

Country Life UK

The goddess of small things

For Rita Konig, interior design isn't only about coherence and comfort: it should be a celebration of stuff. Giles Kime charts her transatlantic career

time to read

4 mins

October 08, 2025

Country Life UK

Country Life UK

Farmers vent fury at Labour's conference

THE Labour party's controversial proposed reforms of farm inheritance tax were the catalyst that led 1,200 disgruntled British farmers to converge on Liverpool and stage a protest at the Labour Party Conference.

time to read

2 mins

October 08, 2025

Country Life UK

Country Life UK

Vested interest

Favoured by Byronic bluesmen, Eton pops and rotund royalty, the waistcoat and its later iterations are an integral part of the Englishman's wardrobe, says Simon Mills

time to read

5 mins

October 08, 2025

Country Life UK

Country Life UK

The easel in the crown

Together with ancient armour, Egyptian cats and illuminated manuscripts, this year's Frieze Masters sees a colourful work by an even more colourful character, a Nigerian prince who set out to make 'contemporary Yoruba traditional art'

time to read

5 mins

October 08, 2025

Country Life UK

Country Life UK

Everything you need to know about trees and shrubs

SOMETIMES, it is difficult to remember how we functioned before the internet took over the way we garden.

time to read

3 mins

October 08, 2025

Listen

Translate

Share

-
+

Change font size