Chapter 2 - Contemporaries and Competitors

Summary

This chapter examines Puccini’s relationship with the other young Italian composers of his generation – who came to be known as the giovane scuola italiana – and demonstrates how they were forced into a sometimes antagonistic rivalry with one another. All of these young men were in competition to attract the attention of the major Milanese publishing houses of the day, Ricordi and Sonzogno, and all wanted to be crowned successor to Verdi as Italy’s new national composer. The chapter discusses the composition competition launched by the Sonzogno firm, Puccini’s unsuccessful entry with his opera Le Villi, and Mascagni’s triumph with Cavalleria rusticana. The chapter examines how many of the young composers of the day turned to the verismo genre of opera and discusses the careers of figures including Catalani, Franchetti, and Leoncavallo. Puccini’s process of selecting literary sources to set is considered, with the author showing the importance of rivalry as a creative stimulus for the composer.