Puccini: Orchestral Works

Featuring

John Wilson
Sinfonia of London
Giacomo Puccini

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Composition History

Puccini's opera 'Le villi' (The Wilis), based on a libretto by Ferdinando Fontana, was initially entered into a competition but did not win; it was later funded by friends and premiered successfully in Milan.

Compositional Technique

The Capriccio sinfonico, Puccini's graduation piece, heightens contrasts between slow outer sections and central waltz themes, and within the slow music itself, which veers between anguish and consolation.

Performer Biography

Sinfonia of London, led by Artistic Director John Wilson, brings together outstanding musicians for special projects and has been described as 'one of the best ensembles anywhere' by The Guardian.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Puccini's early instrumental works, such as the Scherzo and Adagetto, demonstrate a characteristic working method of re-using music first conceived as purely instrumental in his later operatic settings.

Composition History

Puccini's 'Crisantemi' (Chrysanthemums) for string quartet is an elegy for Amedeo, Duke of Aosta, who was an unsuccessful King of Spain between 1871 and 1873.

Recording & Production

This recording uses 24-bit / 96 kHz technology, which offers a dynamic range up to 48 dB greater and 256 times the resolution of standard 16-bit recordings, to reproduce the original waveform as closely as possible.

Composer Biography

Giacomo Puccini, known almost exclusively as an opera composer, was a student of composition at the Milan Conservatory from 1880, after receiving a diploma from the Istituto Musicale 'Giovanni Pacini' in Lucca.