Puccini was born in Lucca, Italy into a family with a long history of music. After the death of his father when he was only five years old, he was sent to study with his uncle Fortunato Magi, who considered him to be a poor and undisciplined student. Later, he took the position of church organist and choir master, but it was not until he saw a performance of Verdi's Aida that he became inspired to be an opera composer. He and a friend walked an entire 18.5 miles (30 Kilometers) to see the performance in Pisa. In 1880, Puccini travelled to the Conservatory of Music in Milan to begin his career by studying composition with Amilcare Ponchielli.
In 1880, the Messa composed at the age of 21, marked the end of Puccini's apprenticeship as a composer and the culmination of his family's long association with church music in his native Lucca. (Note: This name normally applies only to a "Gloria" mass, setting the opening two prayers of the Catholic Mass, the Kyrie and the Gloria. However, the Messa is a setting of the full Catholic Mass.) The work offers fascinating glimpses of the dramatic power that Puccini was soon to unleash on Milan's stages; the powerful arias for tenor and bass soloists are certainly more operatic in feel than is usually encountered in church music. The orchestration and the overall feeling of drama conveyed by his music establish a dialogue with Verdi's Requiem and perhaps already constitute a prediction of the future operatic career Puccini would embrace for life.
From 1880 to 1883 he studied at the Milan Conservatory under Ponchielli and Antonio Bazzini. In 1882, Puccini entered a competition for a one-act opera. Although he did not win, Le Villi was later staged in 1884 at the Teatro dal Verme; it also caught the attention of Giulio Ricordi, head of G. Ricordi & Co. music publishers, who commissioned a second opera, Edgar (1889).
From 1891 on, Puccini passed more and more of his time at Torre del Lago, in the Tuscan countryside. In this place on the border of the Massaciuccoli lake, where he passed lots of time hunting, he found refuge from the crowded city. Later he built a villa and moved there definitively in 1900. It was to remain his home and workplace until the very last years of his life. He is buried in the villa's chapel.
La Fanciulla del West: Ch'ella mi creda
Giacomo Puccini Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Sopra una nuova via di redenzione
Aspetterà chio torni
E passeranno i giorni,
E passeranno i giorni,
Ed io non tornerò
Ed io non tornerò
Minnie, della mia vita mio solo fiore,
Tanto bene!
Ah, tu della mia vita mio solo fior!
The Italian phrase "Ch'ella mi creda libero e lontano" in Giacomo Puccini's song La Fanciulla del West, translated as "Let her believe me free and far away," is sung by the character Dick Johnson, in an attempt to comfort Minnie, his love interest. He urges her to let him go and believes that he will find redemption on a new path. Despite his promise to return to her, he acknowledges he may not come back, leaving her with only memories of their time together. Johnson acknowledges the love Minnie has shown him, proclaiming her as the "sole flower" of his life.
The song portrays the classic elements of a tragic romance - a man torn between his love for a woman and his desire for redemption. The phrase "Ch'ella mi creda libero e lontano" embodies Johnson's conflicted emotions, as he is torn between his duty to his criminal past and his new-found love for Minnie. It is a poignant moment in the opera, conveying the emotions of a man who wishes to make amends but cannot escape his past.
Line by Line Meaning
Ch'ella mì creda libero e lontano
Let her believe that I am free and far away
Sopra una nuova via di redenzione
On a new path of redemption
Aspetterà chio torni
She will wait for my return
E passeranno i giorni,
And the days will pass
Ed io non tornerò
And I will not return
Minnie, della mia vita mio solo fiore,
Minnie, the only flower of my life,
Minnie, che mhai voluto tanto bene!
Minnie, who loved me so much!
Tanto bene!
So much love!
Ah, tu della mia vita mio solo fior!
Ah, you, the only flower of my life!
Writer(s): Giacomo Puccini
Contributed by Austin W. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@vrontakis63
Ch'ella Mi Creda
Ch'ella mi creda libero e lontano
Sopra una nuova via di redenzione!
Aspetterà ch'io torni
E passeranno i giorni
E passeranno i giorni
Ed io non tornerò
Ed io non tornerò
Minnie, della mia vita mio solo fiore
Minnie, che m'hai voluto tanto bene!
Tanto bene!
Ah, tu della mia vita mio solo fior!
@barbaragawe170
amazingly wonderful Jonas singing and acting! I had goosebups listening it...
@glenharris2773
Jonas was fantastic I was at the Met during this performance and his voice filled all the auditorium of 3,800 people, I was at the Balcony. His sound is harmonious, wide and dark not shrill or forced or pushed. The top note was great, a real open throat sound, like a baritone that can open up on a top tenor note. I have heard bigger voices at the met and lyrical tenors with a "prettier" sound and perhaps he is not the loudest helden tenor in history but on Saturday he gave a note perfect reading of a role that suits him perfectly. Bravo Jonas.
@xxsaruman82xx87
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVUwvbUGueY
@xxsaruman82xx87
He is actually a leggero tenor, not even close to a heldentenor.
@claudinevoirain5945
I was ar the Met I could not hear him
@buenvendor
I saw it live yesterday! This aria was the best moment of the opera. He rocked the MET!
@Jeff4014
Hasta las patas el vibrato
@joemcbob9688
I love Kaufmann so much and he is at his best here! Bravissimo! My favorite Ramerrez!
@konstantinali5690
Wonderful performance! And Jonas Kaufmann was great!!! Voice, acting, presence... the perfect Johnson!
@marie-laurecoupeau525
Au Met, en 2018 c'était fabuleux. J'ai eu la chance de revoir cette production depuis et c'est toujours aussi beau et aussi émouvant. Jonas Kaufmann, Eva Maria Westbroek, Zeljko Lucic sont merveilleux. Tout le casting, les chœurs, la direction de Marco Armillato, un vrai bonheur. Décors, production, costumes extraordinaires. J'ai adoré.