The Operas of Puccini

Mr. Ashbrook's book is addressed equally to those who love Puccini's music and to those who want to know a good deal about it. While there have been several biographical studies of Puccini, no other book treats his operas, all twelve of them, in such detail and in close relation to his life. The author examines each opera musically, discusses the libretto and the performance history of each, and relates them to events in Puccini's life. He avoids excess psychological theorizing and stresses Puccini's professional activities and the course of his musical development, treating the composer and his works fairly and objectively as products of a particular time and place in history. Among the features of the book are: plot summaries of all the operas and a close condsideration of their dramaturgy as developed in the music; a review of the circumstances of composition of each opera; a description of Puccini's rejected ideas, which reveal his conception of suitable operatic form and subject; an account of the librettos' relation to the music and Puccini's own contributions to the librettos; a capsule history of each opera's performances with his revisions, which shed light on Puccini's sense of the musical theater; and detailed references to the authograph scores and proofs in Puccini's publisher's office, which offer fresh insight into his musical methods.