![]() Although Mimi’s death at the end of the opera is tragic, she falls victim to tuberculosis rather than at the hands of a murderer or being forced into suicide.īeginning with Manon Lescaut, Puccini began incorporating leitmotifs (melodies associated with a character, event, or thing) as used by Wagner in his music dramas, but combined it with the Italian dramma in musica, where the emphasis is on melody. For example, La Bohème is usually categorized as a verismo opera because of its setting: the characters are “bohemian” artists and their associates-all everyday people who are trying to scrape out a living. Neither choice is attractive, but she ultimately chooses to kill him rather than sacrifice her virtue to his evil.įrom the beginning of his career, Puccini incorporated verismo qualities, but tempered them. Again using Tosca as an example, Floria Tosca, who has done nothing but good in her life, is faced with the choice of sleeping with Baron Scarpia or killing him. ![]() The typical story line of a verismo opera thus places ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances, forcing them to make choices and commit acts foreign to their natures out of desperation. If characters from the upper class appear, they are more often the villains, as is Baron Scarpia in Puccini’s Tosca. Their story lines are often gritty, are set in the then-present day, and portray life situations of everyday people rather than royalty, the aristocracy, or other individuals in power. Verismo operas are considered to be the predecessor of the thriller stories of television and cinema. ![]() The operatic style most often associated with Puccini is verismo, a genre that developed in the late 1880s in the late works of Verdi as well as those of Pietro Mascagni ( Cavalleria rusticana) and Ruggiero Leoncavallo ( I Pagliacci). Although viewed as Verdi’s true successor, Puccini’s operas are infused with German and French musical elements as well as those associated with his native Italy. ![]() Puccini’s work is viewed by historians as the culmination of the Italian bel canto tradition, a line that goes back to the works of 19 th-century opera composers such as Bellini and Donizetti.
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