Puccini And The Fugue

... maybe it was an escape. And the only Italian opera composer of that period had a technique and a sense of musical theater that brings him very close to the German tradition ... which I greatly appreciate.

A handful of bars in fugato style are not a fugue. When I first listened to the overture, an infinite emotion had taken hold of me; I thought "there, look what he can do and what treasures he will show for the rest of the opera"... but it lasted only a few seconds and I had to recognize that there is only one Meistersinger... namely, Wagner

Zaccaria wrote:

I am not an opera expert, and while listening for the first time (and in full) to "Madama Butterfly," I noticed with surprise that both in the overture and at the reprise of the second Act, Puccini uses a fugue (but with great dramatic effect, in my opinion).

I was wondering if this was a peculiarity of this opera or if Puccini used this compositional technique other times in his works?

It is actually a "fugato," not a true fugue. This does nothing to diminish the dramatic effect of the moment and does not detract even slightly from the genius of Puccini, the last great Italian opera composer (and perhaps not just Italian, because after Puccini, opera set (È) with the sun). I don't recall from memory if there are fugues or fugatos in his other works, but its use is nonetheless not infrequent in other Italian operas (or by Italian composers); for example, there is a fugue in Donizetti's "La Fille du régiment" (at the moment Marie is taken away to the regiment), there is a fugue in the last act of Verdi's "Macbeth," during the battle in which Macbeth is killed, and there is a fugue in "Falstaff" ("Tutto nel mondo È burla").

Marebu wrote:

A handful of bars in fugato style are not a fugue. When I first listened to the overture, an infinite emotion had taken hold of me; I thought "there, look what he can do and what treasures he will show for the rest of the opera"... but it lasted only a few seconds and I had to recognize that there is only one Meistersinger... precisely, Wagner

I disagree because if there is an essential opera in his development - that essentiality which Wagner lacks - it is precisely Butterfly. The only opera that Puccini himself never tired of listening to. It is something completely different from the Meistersinger but of no lesser artistic dignity. One must simply not forget that it is a work of theater, made to be seen in the theater, speaking with the language of the theater. Puccini is not interested in being symphonic; even the initial fugato serves only to introduce the spectator in medias res, not to show how good Puccini is.

What truly interests Puccini, for example, is making one *feel* Butterfly before making one "see" it....on these details, Puccini and the librettists studied for entire months."

What I don't understand is whether his avoidance of counterpoint (even if it exists within the polyphonic texture of his scores) was a choice entirely his own or a compromise with the Italico spirit of bel canto ... which I just can't stomach.

... which in short is what Carlos wrote, but he does not address the motivations.

I think that he linked counterpoint to sacred music and anyway in some traditional way, and even in the Mass of Glory... there is the bare minimum of counterpoint.

... I can already see him in Ponchielli's lesson, every week he would bring him the same fugue

Stradivari wrote:

I do not agree because if there is an essential work in its development - that essentiality which Wagner lacks - it is precisely Butterfly.

The first act of La Bohème lasts 42 minutes and at the end the protagonists walk out hand in hand. In the nonetheless beautiful Tristan und Isolde, after 42 minutes from the beginning of the first act, the protagonists have not yet met

Marebu wrote:

What I don't understand is whether his avoidance of counterpoint (even if it exists within the polyphonic texture of his scores) was a choice entirely his own or a compromise with the Italico spirit of bel canto ... which I just cannot stomach.

... which in short is what Carlos wrote but does not address the reasons why.

Reasons for what? I answered a different question... and I didn't understand yours.

Comparing Puccini with Wagner based on the use of counterpoint is as pertinent as comparing a triangle and a violin based on timbre...