Puccini

Born into a line of composers and organists stretching back four generations, Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924) was pushed toward music by his family's expectations and by a mother who wanted him to succeed. He became the most celebrated Italian opera composer after Giuseppe Verdi, and his name is attached to La Boheme, Tosca, Madama Butterfly, La Fanciulla del West, La Rondine and Turandot.

This biography looks past the famous works to the man who wrote them, a figure often unsure of himself, prone to melancholy, and burdened by personal hardships. Mary Jane Phillips-Matz follows him from his childhood in Lucca through his lean years as a student at the Milan Conservatory, then through early setbacks and eventual triumphs that brought him international fame and wealth. The narrative moves between Tuscany and the competitive world of opera, drawing on primary sources and on interviews with relatives, friends and fellow musicians.

The book recounts Puccini's private grief and scandals as well as his quarrels and alliances with other figures in England, the rest of Europe and the United States. It also examines a character full of contradictions: a sophisticated composer who borrowed freely from exotic material, and a stylish man who owned several villas, fast cars, boats and tailored clothes, yet kept a deep attachment to the rural Tuscany of his youth. He returned there in difficult periods, finding comfort in hunting and card games with his neighbors.