Program notes for A Night in Italy
By Emily Reese

Capriccio Italien in A major, Op. 45
Pyotr Il’yich Tchaikovsky
b. April 25/May 7, 1840, Kamsko-Votkinsk, Vyatka province, Russia
d. October 25/November 5, 1893, St. Petersburg, Russia
Premiered December 6/18, 1880 in Moscow; Nikolay Rubinstein conducting

Tchaikovsky, on visits to Florence and Rome, noticed that Italians tend to sing constantly. He had a deep appreciation for the habit, and wanted to incorporate some of the folk melodies he heard into an orchestral piece. He knew of fellow Russian Mikhail Glinka’s two Spanish Overtures, and Tchaikovsky wanted to commemorate songs of Italy similarly.

He began writing Capriccio Italien in January of 1880. Tchaikovsky quickly sketched the piece in a week, but waited until May to score it. The December premiere in Moscow, conducted by Nikolay Rubinstein at a Russian Musical Society, was warmly received. It was such as success that it was played again at the next RMS concert two weeks later.

Despite this success, it is certainly not the composer’s most substantive work. As Tchaikovsky biographer David Brown argues, Glinka’s overtures reflect the Spanish culture far more effectively imbues Italian life than Tchaikovsky’s Capriccio; Glinka spent a great deal more time immersing himself within the culture of Spain than Tchaikovsky’s holiday visits could have allowed.

The opening brass fanfare is a trumpet call Tchaikovsky heard each day from barracks near the hotel he stayed in while in Rome. There are four more melodies within the Capriccio, but only one is identifiable as a tarantella called “Ciccuzza.” Thematic repetition weaves throughout the piece, held by Tchaikovsky’s prowess at writing sections capable of evoking moods and landscapes.

La bohème
“Che gelida manina”
“Mi chiamano Mimì”
“O soave faciulla”
Giacomo Puccini
b. December 22, 1858, Lucca
d. November 29, 1924, Brussels
Debuted in Turin, February 1, 1896, at the Teatro Regio

La bohème was borne out of a rivalry between two Italian composers. Puccini and operatic composer Ruggero Leoncavallo were interested in writing operas of the same name. Leoncavallo insisted it was his idea first, which is more than likely true; he was furious that Puccini would adopt the idea and write an opera on the same subject called La bohéme.

Nevertheless, Puccini’s La bohème debuted almost a year ahead of Leoncavallo’s, and was exponentially more successful. The public loved Puccini’s opera, despite critics being less than kind.

Adapted from Henry Murger’s novel, Scènes de la vie de bohème, Puccini collaborated with two librettists during the creation of the opera. Luigi Illica, known for spontaneity in creation, balanced well with Giuseppe Giacosa’s deliberate attention to detail. Puccini’s publisher, Giulio Ricordi, mediated minor quandaries between the three, and carefully supervised the relationship.

All three arias performed by Lincoln’s Symphony Orchestra appear successively in Act I of the four-act La bohème. Rodolfo is writing an article when his neighbor, Mimì comes to him for help relighting a candle. She appears unhealthy, so Rodolfo gives her a drink of wine. As she gets up to leave, she realizes she’s lost her key. Rodolfo and Mimì look for the key; Rodolfo finds it and slyly pockets it. He touches her hand, and begins to sing “Che gelida manina” (“Your tiny hand is frozen”). She responds with “Mi chiamano Mimì” (“They call me Mimì”). Her aria explains the story of her life contains a motif used to represent her musically throughout La bohème. When she is finished, they’re in love, and they begin singing the love duet, “O soave fanciulla” (“Oh sweet young girl”), which closes Act I.

The Metropolitan Opera debuted Live from the Met in 1977 with Puccini’s La bohème; Luciano Pavarotti performed the role of Rodolfo and Renata Scotto was Mimì.


Semiramide: Overture
Gioachino Rossini
b. February 29, 1792, Pesaro, Italy
d. November 13, 1868, Passy, Italy
Premiered February 3, 1823, in Venice

Semiramide is an Oedipus-like melodramma tragico of love, heartbreak, death and revenge. As the Queen of Babylon, Semiramide and her lover, Assur, killed Semiramide’s husband, King Nino. They also attempted, unsuccessfully, to kill her son, Arsace. Fifteen years later, the Queen must choose a husband and successor to the throne. Arsace and Assur vie for the queen’s attention, but for far different reasons. Assur is in love with the queen and her power; he wants to marry Semiramide and become king. But Semiramide falls in love with Arsace, unaware that he’s her son. Arsace returned to the court to avenge his father’s death, and he soon discovers that Assur was involved in the murder as well. When Semiramide proclaims her love for Arsace, he reveals that he is her son. He promises to spare her life, but vows revenge on Assur. In a classic tale of operatic misfortune, Arsace accidentally kills his mother instead of Assur. Arsace becomes king, much to his own horror.

Rossini was 30 years old when he wrote Semiramide. His librettist, Gaetano Rossi, based the lyrics on Voltaire’s tragedy of the same name. It took Rossini only 33 days to write the entire two-act, German-style opera, and it was the final opera he wrote for his home country before moving to France.

Rossini accepted a hefty 5000 francs to write the opera for the Teatro della Fenice. It premiered in Venice in February of 1823, ran for the subsequent 28 nights, and was received well throughout Europe. Although audiences liked the opera itself, it was the overture that everyone loved.

Uncharacteristic of his previous operas, Rossini included many themes from the opera in the overture. The work is, also atypically for Rossini, a miniature synopsis of the entire opera in an instrumental form, and an excellent start to the opera.

Pini di Roma (Pines of Rome), P. 141
Ottorino Respighi
b. July 9, 1879, Bologna
d. April 18, 1936, Rome
Premiered at the Augusteo in Rome, December 14, 1924, conducted by Bernardino Molinari.

Pini di Roma is the second in a trilogy of full orchestral works by Ottorino Respighi. Respighi became the poet of Rome by musically illustrating three characteristics of the Italian city. Fontane di Roma was finished in 1916, written for Rome’s celebrated fountains. Pini di Roma (1923) describes the picturesque pines that dot the countryside, and Feste Romana (1928) represents various festivals that occur throughout the year. The first of the trilogy, Fontane di Roma (Fountains of Rome), had a less than successful premiere in 1918. A few months later, however, Toscanini conducted Fontane to wildly enthusiastic reviews. 

The second piece in the trilogy, Pini di Roma (Pines of Rome), had long been planned as a sequel to its successful predecessor. Respighi collated themes and ideas before finally writing Pini in May of 1923. He was married to singer Elsa Olivieri Sangiacomo; he asked his wife for folk songs she sang as a child so he could incorporate them into Pini.

Respighi correctly predicted the audience would boo disapprovingly at the first movement, but that the subsequent movements would win their praises. Prior to the premiere, he said, “Let them boo...what do I care?”

Pini di Roma is a symphonic poem. Respighi’s wife said the composer always wrote his literary summations after he wrote the music itself. Pini is scored for a large orchestra, and the score contains instructions on using a recording of a nightingale in the third movement.

With flittering woodwinds, ringing bells, and radiant brass, the opening movement portrays children playing in the village of Borghese. The second movement, “Pines Near the Catacombs,” contains a gorgeous trumpet solo, performed off-stage. Respighi said this movement “rises from the depths, re-echoes silently, like a hymn, and then mysteriously dies away.” The entire movement builds in an enormous crescendo, and then tapers as it heads toward the third movement. “Pines of the Janiculum” is a nocturne that begins with a splash of piano followed by a soaring clarinet solo. This movement is perhaps the most Impressionistic of the four, especially with birdcalls in its background. The final movement is a nod to the past of Roman rule. Respighi said, “To the poet’s fantasy appears a vision of past glories. Trumpets blaze, and the army of the Consul advances brilliantly in the grandeur of a newly rise sun toward the Via Sacra, mounting the Capitoline Hill in final triumph.”