Chapter 4 - An individual voice: traditional and progressive elements in Le villi

Summary

“A work out of the ordinary.”

“In his music there is always an individual, original stamp.”

“Artistic individuality […] a laudable aversion to the conventional.”

“Singular talent and such original, masculine beauty, for a public that was completely unprepared for it.”

These reactions, written after the première of Puccini's first opera to a libretto by Ferdinando Fontana, may seem odd to today's listeners: of all of the composer's theatrical works, Le villi seems the most traditional. At first glance, it appears to be a “numbers” opera with traditional prelude and introductory chorus, and the chorus serves as narrator, a conventional device with which Puccini soon dispensed. There are solos and duets as well (without traditional recitatives, however.) In comparison with his later works, the diatonicism is much clearer and there is no trace of the MPI.

A closer look at the score reveals something even more unusual: two different numbering systems, both original to the autograph score. There are indeed individual set-pieces (numbered 1 to 10) but there are also sequential rehearsal marks (1 to 59) that traverse both acts. The second system betrays the fact that the musical score is almost completely continuous, with a strong reliance on instrumental sections. Because of these latter two features, given the cultural milieu of Italy at the time, the score was considered “symphonic”; that is, Wagnerian and progressive, despite its traditional elements. The two numbering systems are emblematic of the stylistic duality that pervades this piece.

Indeed, the “symphonic” aspect of Le villi is mentioned most in the contemporary reviews: “Puccini is distinguished essentially by his instrumental colors,” and “symphonism abounds and gives Le villi a new, pleasing expression, apart from the usual, conventional lyric opera.” Verdi himself chimed in: “I have heard much good of the musician Puccini. […] It seems, however, that the symphonic element predominates in him! No harm in that. Only that one must do this cautiously. Opera is opera; symphony is symphony, and I don't believe that in an opera it is nice to put in a symphonic passage just so the orchestra can play away.” In sum, Le villi is Janus-faced, a mixture of old and new, of Italian tradition and the wagnerismo of the (then) future—and as such, emblematic of all Puccini operas to come.