Tuscany Celebrates 150 Years of Puccini
This year, throughout the province of Lucca in Tuscany, there are many celebrations to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the birth of native son Giacomo Puccini. You will find musical and commemorative programs in Lucca (where Puccini was born) in Celle Puccini (the small hill town where he vacationed as a child), in Viareggio (where he had a villa at the beach), and in Torre Del Lago Puccini (where he resided for over 30 years, wrote all of his operas except for Turandot and was ultimately laid to rest).
Every year during the summer months, you can attend the annual Puccini Festival in Torre Del Lago Puccini. The festival features productions of Puccini operas in a spectacular open-air theater setting worthy of the composer’s genius—on the shore of Lake Massaciuccoli with the Apuan Alps in the background. The newly renovated Torre Del Lago Puccini Opera Theatre was recently inaugurated to commemorate the 150th Anniversary of the Maestro’s birth.
Last night a friend and I went to this opera theatre for the viewing of a mini-series on the life of Puccini. Many enthusiastic people attended this showing. We did not see the whole thing unfortunately as it started at 10 and continued to 2 or 3 in the morning (these are true fans!).
An extra treat were the hundreds of posters on exhibit from movies that featured Puccini music. I could not believe how many there were: From the most obvious (Room With A View, Moonstruck and Prizzi’s Honor) to the hard-to-remember soundtracks of Awakenings and Speed 2. Even Serpico had Puccini music.
There was a real treat in store for me this evening: I was invited to a private sunset concert at La Bonaccia beach establishment in Forte Dei Marmi. The mayor of Forte Dei Marmi and other dignitaries attended this lovely event at which a pianist and soprano offered their renditions of Puccini favorites from La Boheme, Madama Butterfly, Manon Lescaut and other well-known operas. The beautiful sky and the sound of the sea in the background only added to the mood of the music as the notes lingered in the air and the sky turned many shades of purple. It was something I will remember for a very long time.
Ciao for now, Serenella
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