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.
Tosca: Recondita armonia
Giacomo Puccini Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
(Al Sagrestano)
Dammi i colori!
(Il Sagrestano eseguisce. Cavaradossi
Dipinge con rapidità e si sofferma spesso
A riguardare il proprio lavoro: il
Sagrestano va e viene, portando
A lavare i pennelli. A un tratto Cavaradossi
Si ristà di dipingere; leva di tasca un
Medaglione contenente una miniatura
E gli occhi suoi vanno dal medaglione al
Quadro).
Recondita armonia
Di bellezze diverse!...
È bruna Floria,
L'ardente amante mia...
SAGRESTANO
(A mezza voce, come brontolando)
Scherza coi fanti
E lascia stare i santi!
(S'allontana per prendere l'acqua
Onde pulire i pennelli)
CAVARADOSSI
E te, beltade ignota,
Cinta di chiome bionde!
Tu azzurro hai l'occhio,
Tosca ha l'occhio nero!
SAGRESTANO
(Ritornando dal fondo e sempre
Scandalizzato:)
Scherza coi fanti
E lascia stare i santi!
(Riprende a lavare i pennelli)
CAVARADOSSI
L'arte nel suo mistero
Le diverse bellezze insiem confonde;
Ma nel ritrar costei
Il mio solo pensiero,
Il mio solo pensiero,
Tosca, sei tu!
(Continua a dipingere)
SAGRESTANO
(Fra sè, in disparte)
Queste diverse gonne
Che fanno concorrenza alle Madonne
Mandan tanfo d'Inferno.
(Asciuga i pennelli lavati, non senza
Continuare a borbottare)
Scherza coi fanti
E lascia stare i santi!
Ma con quei cani di volterriani
Nemici del santissimo governo
Non s'ha da metter voce!...
(Pone la catinella sotto l'impalcato ed i
Pennelli li colloca in un vaso, presso al
Pittore)
Scherza coi fanti
E lascia stare i santi!
(Accennando a Cavaradossi)
Già sono impenitenti tutti quanti!
Facciam piuttosto il segno della croce.
¡Recóndita armonía
En bellezas diversas!
Es morena Flora,
La ardiente amante mía...
EL SACRISTÁN
(A media voz, refunfuñando)
¡Ríete con el diablo
Y deja en paz a los santos...!
(Se aleja para coger agua
Con el fin de limpiar los pinceles)
CAVARADOSSI
Y tú, beldad ignota,
Coronada por rubios cabellos...
¡Tú, con tus ojos azules
Y, Tosca, de ojos negros!
EL SACRISTÁN
(Volviendo del fondo y siempre
Escandalizado)
¡Ríete con el diablo
Y deja en paz a los santos...!
(Continúa lavando los pinceles)
CAVARADOSSI
El arte, en su misterio,
Las diversas bellezas,
Mezcla y confunde
Mas, en el retrato de ella,
Mi único pensamiento, eres tú,
¡Tosca: eres tú!
(Continúa pintando)
EL SACRISTÁN
(Para sí, en un aparte)
Estos colores que pretenden rivalizar
Con los de la Señora
Echan un hedor de infierno.
(Seca los pinceles lavados,
Continúa refunfuñando)
¡Bromea con el diablo
Y deja en paz a los santos...!
¡Pero, con esos perros ateos
Enemigos del santísimo Gobierno,
No hay que meter baza!...
(Coloca la palangana bajo el
Andamio y los pinceles en un
Vaso, cerca del pintor)
¡Ríete con el diablo
Y deja en paz a los santos...!
(Mirando a Cavaradossi)
¡Son todos unos irreverentes!
Hagamos, la señal de la cruz.
The lyrics to Giacomo Puccini's song Tosca: Recondita armonia tell the story of Cavaradossi, a painter who is working on a portrait while the sacristan is cleaning brushes. Cavaradossi stops painting to take out a locket with a miniature from his pocket, and his eyes switch back and forth from the portrait to the photograph. The song is an aria in which he sings about the harmony between different forms of beauty and how they all confound together in art, including the beauty of his lover, the fiery Tosca. The sacristan warns Cavaradossi not to mock the saints and instead should focus on his painting. The song goes on to discuss the beauty of various women, but ultimately Cavaradossi paints Tosca, and she is the only thing he can think of.
Overall, the song can be seen as an expression of the artistic process, especially as it relates to portraiture. It highlights the idea that every work of art is a combination of multiple sources of inspiration and that sometimes these sources can overlap and clash.
Line by Line Meaning
¡Recóndita armonía En bellezas diversas!
In the hidden harmony among diverse beauties!
Es morena Flora, La ardiente amante mía...
My passionate lover, Flora, is a brunette...
¡Ríete con el diablo Y deja en paz a los santos...!
Laugh with the devil and leave the saints alone...!
Y tú, beldad ignota, Coronada por rubios cabellos... ¡Tú, con tus ojos azules Y, Tosca, de ojos negros!
And you, unknown beauty, crowned with blonde hair... You, with your blue eyes and Tosca, with her black eyes!
El arte, en su misterio, Las diversas bellezas, Mezcla y confunde Mas, en el retrato de ella, Mi único pensamiento, eres tú, ¡Tosca: eres tú!
Art, in its mystery, blends and confuses diverse beauties... But in her portrait, my only thought is you, Tosca: it's you!
Estos colores que pretenden rivalizar Con los de la Señora Echan un hedor de infierno.
These colors that vie with those of the Lady, smell of hell.
¡Pero, con esos perros ateos Enemigos del santísimo Gobierno, No hay que meter baza!...
But with those atheist dogs, enemies of the most holy Government, it's best to stay out of it!
¡Son todos unos irreverentes! Hagamos, la señal de la cruz.
They're all irreverent! Let's make the Sign of the Cross.
Writer(s): 24, Giacomo Puccini 858
Contributed by Luke C. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@alexandrelegarrec2381
Recondita armonia
Di bellezze diverse
E' bruna Floria
L'ardente amante mia
E te, bel tale ignota
Cinta di chiome bionde
Tu azzurro hai l'occhio
Tosca ha l'occhio nero
L'arte nel suo mistero
Le diverse bellezze insiem confonde
Ma nel ritrar costei
Il mio solo pensiero
Il mio solo pensier sei tu
Tosca, sei tu
@MannyBrum
English translation:
Hidden harmony
Of different beauties
Brown-haired is Floria
My ardent lover
And you, unknown beauty
Surrounded by blonde hair
You have blue eyes
Tosca has black eyes
Art in its mystery
Confuses the different beauties together
But in portraying her
My only thought
My only thought is you
Tosca, it is you!
Context:
The painter Cavaradossi is painting a portrait of Mary Magdalene for a church, and he has based it on an woman he has seen in the church whose name he doesn't yet know, but as he is painting it, he keeps thinking of the woman he loves, Floria Tosca, and in doing so the painting ends up being a combination of the two women.
@vercingetorixkingofgalia7196
Recondita armonia
Di bellezze diverse!
É bruna Floria,
L'ardente amante mia.
E te, beltade ignota,
Cinta di chiome e bionde,
Tu azzurro hai l'occhio,
Tosca ha l'occhio nero!
L'arte nel suo mistero,
Le diverse bellezze insiem confonde...
Ma nel ritrar costei,
Il mio solo pensiero!
Ah, il mio sol pensier sei tu,
Tosca,
Sei tu!
@garyturner1410
I am 49 years old. I first heard this concert 30 years ago and I still watch this now. When I die, Pavarotti's voice will be one of the things I will thank God I was lucky enough to hear. A man like Beethoven, sent from the universe to make people happy.
Thank you Maestro - I pray humanity will still appreciate this in future generations.... I'm sure they will. ❤
@gunhildpaaske2747
Pavarotti - seine glühende Stimme hält alle Sinne wach! Jetzt und ewig!
@CamusFR7
Paravèn'dt stratz inter garten favel
@oulascarpa9548
Grazie bellissima Italia, hai dato così tanti al mondo!!!
@rudij7060
I was born in 1957 – I love the Elvis time – the hippy time – the disco time - and all music- but regardless of music genre - it is my humble opinion that he is the greatest singer in human history.
@diegomr6969
a medida que creces, te vas dando cuenta lo que los viejos escuchaban y era por algo, por la cultura, por mantener la cuna de la musica, solo si podes entender la melodia, el amor hacia las personas . la tierra plantas animales vas amar mas esta cuna musical. te hace alguien con raiz.
@larsfriisc
The finest Stradivarius male HUMAN instrument. The voice the power. You can always recognize two voices - Paravrotti and Callas. Both give me the chills. And Tosca contains so many great arias. WOW.
@mai861
Hos voice is unique, different and very satisfying to hear. He is a lyric tenor, but you can recognize him immediately because it's completely differently with anothers. But he was not very good at the young age. Below 30 I mean. Try Roberto Alagna at the age of 27, very young and perfect. Pavarotti is the best at about 45, but was not very good when he was young. We can't have the best singer because everyone is different. But I hear Pavarotti the most, he is the best of mine.
@doddsalfa
Trust me you are absolutely right
@garyroberts3859
Well he’s in a group that are the greatest including women and not all are classical singers