Go back
Soprano Desi Stefanova and pianist Denitsa Petrova presented on June 11, 2024 at 19.00 on the stage of the Stara Zagora Opera part of Puccini's magnificent song work, which is recognizable in many of the beloved arias in his operas. The romantic evening of song is complemented by the poetry of Elena Muri.
Desi Stefanova on Puccini's songs:
"Giacomo Puccini needs no introduction - he is one of the greatest opera composers and my most favourite composer. Puccini's music is a vast universe of emotional depth, intensity and love. Puccini, known for his wonderful and unique operas, seems to have had no particular attraction to non-opera music, yet he created wonderful songs for voice and piano that, like his operas, have the soulful magic of Puccini. Puccini's songs are little known and only came to light in 1987 when they were published by Michael Kay, one of the greatest scholars of Giacomo Puccini. Some were composed by chance, others by commission or at the request of friends. But the most interesting and impressive thing to me about Puccini's songs is that they all find an echo in his operas. In each of them we hear familiar themes and harmonies from all his operas. For example, his most famous song, Sole e Amore, became the basis for the quartet in Act 3 of the opera La bohème. Puccini gave this autographed song to Francesco Paolo Tosti and wrote "this is the first germ of Bohemi". We find echoes of 'Avanti Urania'/'Full forward 'Urania'' in Tosca and Madame Butterfly. Puccini's neighbour in Lucca, the Marquis of Lisieux, buys a Scottish steamer and names it 'Urania' and asks Puccini to write a song about it. The song's finale is a hundred percent reference to Pinkerton's ship in Madame Butterfly and the trembling in anticipation Cho-Cho-San. It's as if Puccini's songs were a kind of blueprint for his future operatic arias and motifs. Personally, I first became aware that Puccini wrote songs for voice and piano years ago when I was invited to sing the Salve Regina/'Glorification of the Blessed Virgin' in a cathedral in Italy live on organ, because it was written for voice and organ. Then I was both surprised and fascinated. Surprised because I didn't know Puccini wrote songs and fascinated because I immediately fell in love with them.
Why Giacomo Puccini and Elena Muri! If we have to describe Puccini's life in two words it is Love and Music. The same goes for Elena Muri - Love and Music of the word.
"Do I open,
I close my eyes,
Love.
All you,
All you...."
It's from Elena Muri's latest book, "Only After You," which immediately echoes Puccini's song "To You" ("Oh, How Much I Love You....")
We chose nine songs for the concert. When we set to work with pianist Denitsa Petrova to prepare the concert, we simply chose the ones we felt with our souls. It is a real pleasure to work with Denitsa Petrova. She is an exceptional musician, she loves Puccini and working with her on the songs was thorough, with insight into every detail, starting from the text, the melodic line, the dynamics and every direction of Puccini.
The concert of Puccini's songs comes as a natural follow-up to the presentation of Elena Muri's new book "Only After You" and an album of paintings and reflections in December 2023 in the foyer of the State Opera-Stara Zagora, which also featured four Puccini songs performed by me.