A word about words

The three main Puccini operas we have looked at so far (La Boheme, Tosca and Madam Butterfly) all share one important feature: the librettists.

The libretto (literally, little book) are the words of the opera and usually follow a draft scenario or synopsis (summary of the plot). The collaboration between composer and librettist is often fraught and the old argument prima la musica, poi le parole (first the music, then the words) or vice versa, has even inspired its own operas. It is important to remember that it is the composer who is the dramatist: with the music he will determine character, mood, emotion and pace. There are records of many arguments where the librettist has written beautiful poetry but that is no good to the composer's sense of drama. A good librettist needs to find words that can inspire the composer but must not be complete in themselves: the words need a composer to complete and enrich them.

As opera developed, libretti (or librettos: libretti is the plural in Italian, librettos sounds more natural in English even though it's an Italian word) were written less as poetry and more as prose, with the poetry concentrated in the arias. The words and music need to change metre and rhythm according to the mood of the characters and to prevent repetition and boredom. For example, a character who is angry may sing in short brief musical lines, so the poetry needs to be in similar short bursts, perhaps with half-rhymes. A character singing of love may sing in longer, more expansive musical lines and needs a lyrical poetry to match this. 

In Puccini's team, Luigi Illica wrote the basic scenario of the opera and Giuseppe Giacosa wrote the poetry. 

Puccini, Giacosa, Illica

Both librettists were accomplished men in their own right but are by far best known for their collaborative work with Puccini. Other celebrated composer/librettists are Mozart/da Ponte (Don Giovanni, The Marriage of Figaro, Cosi fan tutte), Verdi/ Boito (Otello, Falstaff), Strauss/ von Hofmannsthal (Elektra, der Rosenkavalier and more) and Wagner/ Wagner (yes, Wagner wrote both music and words to his operas). Incidentally, Illica apparently lost his right ear in a duel over a woman, which is why it never appears in a photograph:

Let's look briefly at some lines in Tosca. Here again is Cavaradossi's opening aria, Recondita armonia. (Arias do not have titles, but are referred to by their opening line.) The words are:

Recondita armonia                     How strange the harmony
di bellezze diverse!                    of contrasting beauties!
E bruna Floria                            Floria is dark,
l'ardente amante mia                 she is my passionate lover

(Floria is Tosca's first name.) Each line has six syllables and ends with a rhyme (the half-rhyme of armoniA with diversE might indicate the harmonious contrast: almost the same, but different). Puccini's music keeps the first two lines simple, wondering, the notes are pretty much the same; the second two lines though have more musical jumps, more melody, as if the thoughts of Tosca make Cavaradossi more inspired. 

One of the more effective lines in Tosca comes when the villain, Baron Scarpia, is describing how he is torturing Cavaradossi with a ring of steel:


che ad ogni niego ne sprizza sangue senza merce: that spurts blood mercilessly at each denial

The repeating s/z sounds match well the meaning of spurting blood. I suspect Giacosa was quite pleased with that one. By contrast, I suspect the following is Illica's. It is pure plot exposition, is rather clumsy (and very full of consonants), and Puccini rather throws up his hands and has nothing to do with it, Cavaradossi being left to rattle off the line as quickly as possible on the same note:


Angelotti! Il Console della spenta repubblica romana!: Angelotti! The consul of the fallen Roman republic!

Let's finish with Placido Domingo again, singing Recondita armonia in a live film version, shot in the exact locations and times of the opera in 1992. Listen to the opening stanza as described above and see if you can follow the lyrics: 

Recondita armonia 

di bellezze diverse!

E bruna Floria 

l'ardente amante mia.
E te, beltade ignota
cinta di chiome bionde!
Tu azzuro hai l'occhio 
Tosca ha l'occhio nero! 
L'arte nel suo mistero 

le diverse bellezze insiem confonde:        

ma nel ritrar costei 
il mio solo pensiero, 
il mio sol pensier sei tu! 
Tosca, sei tu!