Lucca is a city rich in culture, where every corner tells a story. To discover the culture of Lucca is to immerse oneself in a rich and vibrant heritage that continues to inspire and fascinate. On this page we want to tell you about the main news of Lucchese culture.
Lucca is proud of its outstanding musical tradition which can be rarely equalled; it counts composers as, Nicolao Dorati, Cristoforo Malvezzi, Gioseffo Guami, Giovanni Lorenzo Gregori, Francesco Barsanti, Francesco Geminiani, Filippo Manfredi, Luigi Boccherini, Alfredo Catalani e Giacomo Puccini. A land of musicians, therefore, who have honoured and continue to honour the name of Lucca throughout the world.
Three among the major musicians of Lucca are particularly represented of this land of artists honoured all over the world: Luigi Boccherini (Lucca, 1743 – Madrid, 1805), Alfredo Catalani (Lucca, 1854 – Milan, 1893) and Giacomo Puccini (Lucca, 1858 – Brussels, 1924), whose events that link them to Lucca can be recounted.
The father of Luigi Boccherini was double bassist player who struggled to bring up his sons in a musical environment.
According to tradition, Luigi attended “Seminario Vannucci” studying with Domenico Vannucci.
In 1751 he was appointed as treble voice in the musical event celebrating the feast in honor of the Holy Cross.
He stayed in Rome for some time, and when he went back to Lucca he played in the monastery of St. Domenico as violoncello solista.
Then he started travelling abroad, often to Vienna, acquiring a larger experience without forgetting his love for his native town.
In 1761 he applied for the position of violoncello in the Cappella di Palazzo which was granted him in 1764. After his father’s death in 1767, Boccherini left Lucca forever starting a tour with
Filippo Manfredi (of the same country) which brought him definitely to Spain. Lucca never forgot him and considers him as one of the glories of the town.
he father of Alfredo Catalani, Eugenio, was a good musician, teacher, and also a musical organiser.
Catalani undertook classical studies at the “Liceo” of the town and, at the same time, in 1863, he undertook, musical studies at the Istituto Musicale. Here he became a pupil of the scholar and composer Fortunato Magi, uncle of Giacomo Puccini.
He achieved his diploma with the composition and execution of a “Messa” with 4 voices, choir and orchestra.
The performance obtained a flattering reaction from the public and the critics. It was his lucky moment, and further offers came from the conservatories of Paris and Milan.
Lucca became the place where he passed periods of rest between the intensive moments of work dedicated to the composition of his operas.
In 1892, at the Teatro del Giglio “La Wally” was represented and directed by Arturo Toscanini, one of his greatest supporters, and the town honoured him warmly.
Giacomo Puccini was son, grand son, great-grand son and great great -grand son of art. It’s well-known that he was the last musician of a very singular dynasty that dominated the musical scene for 150 years.
His family previewed the brilliant destiny of the child and christened him with all the names of his ancestors: Giacomo, Antonio, Michele, adding the specifying of second (he was the second “Giacomo Puccini”).
Giacomo Puccini, as Boccherini, was involved in the musical services of the Santa Croce, with a more important role because of his age.
Some anecdotes describe him as a very unconventional character who during his studies performed in churches, but played the organ and the piano as well in private places and theatres; some of the local critics previewed the quality of the future composer, but were worried for the irregularity of his learning style.
Finally he obtained the position of organist in the Cathedral, that the members of his family had occupied since 1740.
After that he moved to the Conservatory of Milan. In 1880, he got, as Catalani, the diploma of composition with a “Messa” with 4 voices.
From then on Puccini did never more live in Lucca, but while working to his compositions he used to choose places close to the town and to its natural environment.
Lucca was always enthusiastic of his operas and crowned the replicas that took regularly place a couple of months after the first performance.
Giacomo Puccini is Lucchese, or rather from “inside Lucca” having been born within this city’s walls, in Via di Poggio, a centrally located street near beautiful Piazza San Michele.
The house where he was currently houses a museum dedicated to the great musician. Every year thousands of his fans from all over the globe make the journey to this museum.
A bronze statue of the musician was recently installed in front of the museum.
Following his initial experience as a composer-he is remembered for a famous motet he composed for the feast of the patron saint San Paolino – Puccini left Lucca for Milan, where he took lessons from Bazzini and Ponchielli and was soon ready for his opera debut at “Villi” which opened the doors of Casa Ricordi and would be the springboard for his prosperous career.
From this it would be possible to conclude that he grew away from Lucca, particularly since his personal life lead him to find asylum in Torre del Lago where he created his immortal operas.
But even in exile, Giacomo had a warm spot in his heart for Lucca, land of his ancestors, young man’s dreams and love stories.
He was known to go from Torre del Lago to Lucca to visit his friends, and meet them in Caffè Caselli (Di Simo). On September afternoons, particularly Sundays, he could be founded sitting at an outdoor table in “La Stella Polare” cafè.
Puccini always had Lucca in his heart, and honored his city with his musical genius. Lucca is famous for its walls, churches, chalk statues, silk and its emigrants, but it is best known for the name of Puccini.
On the occasion of Puccini’s death, Filippo Sacchi wrote in Corriere della Sera, “There are many countries where we do not see our flag, but we can find Puccini everywhere.
In the little orchestras of transatlantic liners and in the little organs of the suburbs, in the gramophones of villas and in the little organs of emigrants, in hotels, in large theaters, in cinemas and concert halls.” And with Puccini we find Lucca, his land he always loved.
Works
Giacomo Puccini wrote many operas, among which we mention the following as most significant:
The Centro studi Giacomo Puccini was founded in 1996 in Lucca, the native town of Giacomo Puccini.
It aims to promote every kind of research on Puccini and his town milieu, on the music of that time and on the opera theatre after him. It also intends to collect and to catalogue every kind of source-original, photocopy, or electronic form – such as letters, musical and literal sketches, copies of signatures, print scores, in their different versions to furnish the men of culture and his fans with a rich library of all the publications on the artist produced in the world; and the richest bibliographical material.
The purpose of the centre is to cooperate with all those who work on the stage, particularly in theatres that perform the operas of Puccini.
On November 10th 1672 the Council of the Republic of Lucca, in order to meet the increasing interest for the opera, in a town with a flourishing trade as Lucca, decreed to open a public theatre adapting an old convent.
Since then two opera seasons were staged in the Public Theatre: one at Carnival and the other in Autumn followed by prose performances.
An appropriate office was installed for administrative matters and for the maintenance of the theatre which worked until 1799 when Lucca lost its independence and submitted to the French domination.
Renamed Teatro Nazionale, according to the French style, the theatre suffered a period of crisis, solved by Maria Luisa Borbone, new sovereign of Lucca after the Congress of Vienna.
Completely restored on the project of the architect Giovanni Lazzarini, it received the name “Teatro del Giglio”, chosen by Maria Luisa Borbone, in honour of the lily flower which stands on the coat of arms of the Borbone; it was solemnly inaugurated on 17th August 1819.
Since then, the elegant theatre with its noble neo-classic prospect has welcomed the best singers and the most important operas of the greatest authors of the Italian melodrama.
In 1985 Teatro del Giglio has received the nomination of “Teatro di Tradizione” conferred by the Ministero dello Spettacolo.
Today in a revitalization phase by opening various collaborations at
international level.
It hosts an Opera and Prose season and has a strong connection with the operas
of Giacomo Puccini, to whose name it could link.
Grand Outdoor Theater G. Puccini – Torre del Lago
The complex is the most important open-air theater in Tuscany and is linked to one of the most famous and popular summer events, the Torre del Lago Festival, which kicked off in 1930.
Thanks to famous Puccini productions and the participation of the most illustrious names in world opera, the festival became one of the most successful opera events.
The construction of the current Open Air Theater dates back to 1966 when the previous theater was moved to the reclaimed land located north of the Torre del Lago marina on the shore of Lake Massaciuccoli near the Villa Mausoleo di Giacomo Puccini to which it is connected by a small access bridge.
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