One hundred years have passed since the death of Giacomo Puccini. It happened in Brussels, where he was trying to overcome laryngeal cancer, about to turn 66 and far from Lucca, in Tuscany, where he was born. His house, Villa Puccini, in his native Lucca, in Tuscany, has been, since then, the headquarters of his illustrious museum and his mortal remains rest in the chapel. Although he had various homes, Torre del Lago, near the Tyrrhenian coast, was his most common residence. From there he spread his musical genius to the world like so many universal Tuscans like Dante, Boccaccio, Leonardo, Michelangelo, Galileo, Machiavelli, the Medici or his contemporary Amadeo Modiglianand they did it in Letters and Art, science, politics, patronage or the papacy.
Successor of Verdi, who considered him “keeper of the seal of Italian melody“, it is said that there is no opera house in the world that does not program some sure-hit title of his every year. Puccini has been the most eminent of the Italian opera authors if we look at the number of world performances of three of his works –Bohemia, Tosca y Madama Butterflay–, an achievement only comparable to three others by Mozart: The Magic Flute, The Marriage of Figaro and Don Giovanni. Between them they have six of the ten most performed in the history of music along with Carmenby Bizet, La Traviata and Rigolettoby Verdi and The barber of Sevilleby Rossini, according to the survey carried out by the theatrical reference of classical music www.operabase.com.
Member of a famous dynasty of Tuscan musicians to whom the profusion of names with which he was baptized alludes, Giacomo Antonio Domenico Michele Secondo María Puccini, disciple in Milan of Amilcare Ponchielli –author of La Gioconda and the immortal Dance of the Hours–, was a visionary of musical modernity who even anticipated the soundtracks of mystery films. Puccini installed intrigue and solemn emotion in the chords prior to the emost dramatic stage scenes of his operasproviding them with a disturbing atmosphere and added expectation; a sign of his creative intensity.
He was also advanced and modern in his hobbies. He was fascinated by the automobile since its appearance and due to the fortune forged with the success of his operas. He allowed himself to acquire as much automotive novelty as he wanted.. The first of them, the magnificent De Dion-Bouton 5 CV presented at the Milan fair in 1901, where he had gone to supervise the performance of Tosca at La Scala.
He enjoyed the automobile in every trip, no matter how immediate it was, and he received quite a few fines and some accidents due to his passion for speed and the vertigo of reckless driving. In fact, he can be considered a precursor of all-terrain vehicles, as he entrusted his friend Vicenzo Lancia with the construction of a car that would allow him to travel around his residence in Torre del Lago, surrounded by wild spaces, and to go to hunting stops – his great country and gastronomic hobby –, a whim that It cost him the equivalent of 300,000 current euros.
Physically attractive, a good conversationalist and social protagonist, his reputation as a seducer was also notorious and even implicated him in some serious episodes. The same as his excessive love of smoking cigarettes – like the elegant and exotic ones Muratti and Abdula whom he was so fond of–, which led, most likely, to his early death.
Favorite scenario
The relationship he maintained with Spain was particularly intense, since his musical excellence was immediately recognized, despite the widespread passion for Wagner of the influential Madrid Philharmonic Societyfounded in 1901 by Agustín Lhardy and Félix Arteta and followed by hundreds of bel canto enthusiasts, frequent manipulators of the Teatro Real’s programming. It is true that Puccini himself had visited Madrid in March 1891 to attend the premiere of his opera Edgar. “Puccini entered Madrid on the right foot”according to the chronicles of the time.
On November 4, 1893, Manon Lescaut premiered; on February 17, 1900, Bohemia to inaugurate the Real 1900-1901 season and on December 15, Tosca, where the Lhardy restaurant served the premiere buffet and lent its luxurious collection of silver chandeliers to stage all of the performances. The success of Bohemiaspecifically, generated an encore that even all the members of the orchestra applauded, which consolidated and popularized Puccini’s operatic authority in Spain.
Later, on November 20, 1907, the Teatro Real season opened with Madama Buttterflypremiered three years earlier in Milan and in 1925 Bohemia It was the opera that closed the Madrid coliseum due to the structural problems of the building. Finally, in February 1997 – the first season after the reopening of the Teatro Real – it was finally witnessed in Madrid TurandotPuccini’s posthumous opera. Since then, there have been numerous occasions in which Puccini has starred in the Teatro Real’s programming, both with Madama Butterfly, Tosca, La Bohème or Turandot, four titles that the Spanish public idolizes.
Birthday menu, by Ramón Freixa
In addition to being the gastronomic director of the restaurant that bears his name in the Salamanca neighborhood of Madrid, the avant-garde chef Ramon Freixa –distinguished with 2 Michelin Stars and 3 Repsol Suns– also runs the Papagena restaurant at the Teatro Real. In light of Puccini’s centenary, Ramón Freixa has been kind enough to create, at the suggestion of El Economista, a Anniversary Puccini Menu inspired by the origin, work and temperament of the composer.
The Xia Long Bao. Dumplings or gyozas cooked in a bamboo steamer, from the oriental tradition, filled with a cheek stew accompanied by fried ginger, spicy mayonnaise and Chinese chives, inspired by Madama Butterfly and Turandot, Puccini’s operas staged in Japan and China respectively.
Chicken and vegetable bowls. Cannelloni is the most iconic and traditional dish of Tuscany. In this case they are made with sheets of fresh pasta stuffed with roast three birds: free-range chicken, guinea fowl and duck – a nod to the musician’s predilection for hunting –, with béchamel and roast vegetables, drizzled with truffle sauce, boletus and foie.
Panettone cake. How is it possible that Puccini tasted the classic Spanish torrijas when he lived in Madrid during the Holy Week 1891, a brioche bread toast has been made soaked for three hours in an infusion of fresh milk, Madagascar vanillacinnamon, lemon peel and orange blossom water, then caramelized to obtain a crispy exterior layer and a panettone flavor on the inside, garnished with its usual nuts.
This dessert alludes to the panettoni that Puccini gave every Christmas to his friends and that he involuntarily sent to his rival in affairs – although the highly respected director of his operas – Arturo Toscanini. To correct a mistake from which a gesture of reconciliation could be deduced, he sent a telegram to the musical director as soon as he became aware of the error, with one sentence: “Panettone sent by error“, to which Toscanini replied with another: “Panettone savored by error”.
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