Puccini: His Life and Works

by Julian Budden

Book Overview

Julian Budden, one of the world's foremost scholars of Italian opera and author of a monumental three-volume study of Verdi's works, now offers music lovers a major new biography of one of the giants of Italian opera, Giacomo Puccini.
Blending astute musical analysis with a colorful account of Puccini's life, here is an illuminating look at some of the most popular operas in the repertoire, including Manon Lescaut, La Boheme, Tosca, Madama Butterfly,...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0195179749
• ISBN13: 9780195179743
• Release Date: September 2005
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Length: 552 Pages
• Weight: 1.75 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.5" x 6.1" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

A MUST for Puccini Lovers!!!

Julian Budden has already written an indispensible three volume work on the operas of Verdi. He has now done opera lovers a huge favor by writing about Puccini. Unfortunately Puccini died too young leaving far too few operas , however these are some of the most beloved & often performed works in the repertoire. (Manon Lescaut, La Boheme, Tosca, Madama Butterfly, Turandot to name the most popular.) Budden was able to write about all of Puccini's operas and also about Puccini's life in just one volume. This book is EXCELLENT. Budden is a gifted writer who gives technical information but does not present it in a way that is off-putting to non-music scholars. The book is thoroughly enjoyable and extremely informative. I strongly recommend it to anyone interested in learning more about Puccini, the man, and his music. Anyone who loves Verdi should also not hesitate to purchase the three volume Verdi books.

An excellent Musical Bio.

Having read nearly all of the books on Puccini, I feel at least competent to evaluate them. The one that moved Puccini to the level of "worth a book" was Mosco Carner's 1959 book, Puccini, a Critical Biography. The information given was fairly accurate for what was known then. The main fault was the continuing"character analyisis" of the composer. In the 60's Wm. Ashbrook wrote a book on the operas. It too is accurate in presenting many new and interesting facts as well as fasitnating interpretations.In addition it is very well written. Since then there have been a number of other books on the composer and his operas. Of the latest two; Budden and Matz, I must choose Budden. Before discussing Budden's merits, I should say that Matz's book is an excellent chronicle of Puccini's life and filled with anecdotes and interesting facts.It is an entertaining read. The basic problem,for me, is it pretty well leaves the music alone. While Puccini's life is certainly interesting, his music is what is most important, at least for me. Budden's book does a fine job of combining Puccini's life and discussing the music. He writes most effectively about the operas. Their creation struggles. Their multipule revisions. The facts are accurate and presented clearly. He writes with a clarity about music that is both refreshing and rare. There is one other book on Puccini I would like to mention and that is a very expensive one [why??] published by Chicago University and written by Michael Girardi. It presents a most original view of the operas but it is not easy to read. It is stimulating. I hope this helps you decide. Thanks; Paul Zappa