BIOGRAPHY OF GIACOMO PUCCINI - FULL AudioBook | Greatest AudioBooks

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This biography of Puccini was written while the composer was at the height of his career. Besides the usual biographical information, the author summarizes and discusses Puccini's works to this point, including Le Villi, Edgar, Manon Lescaut, La Boheme, Tosca, and Madama Butterfly (which was in production at the time of this writing). - Summary by Ciufi Galeazzi


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Giacomo Puccini

Giacomo Antonio Domenico Michele Secondo Maria Puccini; 22 December 1858 – 29 November 1924) was an Italian opera composer who has been called "the greatest composer of Italian opera after Verdi."

Puccini's early work was rooted in traditional late-19th-century romantic Italian opera. Later, he successfully developed his work in the realistic verismo style, of which he became one of the leading exponents.

Puccini's most renowned works are La bohème (1896), Tosca (1900), Madama Butterfly (1904), and Turandot (1924), all of which are among the important operas played as standards.

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Pittsburgh, Green Bay, and Cisalpine Heritage

[Above: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania]

I actually had intended on this entry being posted prior to last weeks Super Bowl game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Green Bay Packers. Both cities have a long history with our Cisalpine people. Green Bay, which is a port city in the Great Lakes, ties in with our century-plus history in that region. Pittsburgh ties in more with our history in some of the bigger cities of the northeast.

Green Bay's Cisalpine history seems to tie in more with the north Cisalpines, while Pittsburgh simply counts a sizable number of Tuscans in it's "Italian-American" population. Pittsburgh, of course, is a bigger city. Green Bay, interestingly, also has a Tuscan population. All of this should be thought of in a historical sense, as well as a modern one.

In Pittsburgh, the Tuscan heritage is largely from the Lucca province. There is a seemingly large Lucchesi nel Mondo group there. Also interesting, and maybe someone can clue us in more on this subject, is evidence of chain-migration over many decades from Lucca. Green Bay also has some ties to Tuscany. There is a group there called the Green Bay Italo-Americano Club, which was founded by a native of Lucca.

[Right: Green Bay, Wisconsin]

Like so much of our history on this side of the Atlantic, we always have to fill in the blanks. There is not a lot written about people from specific areas and their shared experiences. We do know that the port cities of the Great Lakes, and the surrounding area, were areas of settlement for Cisalpine people; and western Pennsylvania was also an area of sizable Cisalpine settlement.

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