Evening star., 1940-11-10
BY ALICE EVERSMAN.

OLfLCT UDST QLIC TSCOTQIHQS.J
BY ALICE EVERSMAN.
"A gay life yet a terrible one
wrote Henri Murger in the preface
TO his Scenes de Ia Vie de Boheme'
from which Giscomo Puccini drew
the inspiration for his opera. La
Boheme."
This story with its mixture of
tears and laughter. of hunger and
feasting, of poverty and doubtful
af1iuence. all accepted in the same
gay spirit, is the material from
which the great Italian composer
formed a great opera. This was the
kind of subject which Puccini de-
lighted to use to open the food
gates of his genius. -4,,..-.., ....
For Puccini loved the little things
of life. He loved the small dramas
that took place among Insignificant
people, the choice hour spent in the
company of congenial friends, the
simple things he chose for his villa,
the praise of some obscure admirer
of his works, the sunlight, the peace
of his home in Tore del Lago. He
liked to talk of his little ailments.
of some good food he had had. of
a play he had seen, of a vintage
wine he had drunk. These homely
interests kept him constantly in
touch with the life going on around
him and made him its understand
ing interpreter.
Rejected Libretto Once.
So, when he found this story of
a group of artists living perhaps as
he had lived when student in
Milan, experiencing tragedies the
same as he had witnessed or expert
enced in younger years, he needed
nothing more to quiet the restless
ness that always possessed him when
not composing. In eight months
after the final draft of the libretto
was turned over to him, the opera
was finished.
He had a hard time getting the
He had known of the story for some
years: in fact a libretto based on it
once had been offered him by the
composer, Leoncavallo, and had
been rejected. When, following the
tremendous success of his "Manon
Lescaut" he was casting about for
another story with an equal amount
of human interest, he decided on
the well-known book of French
student life. The fury of Leon
cavallo when he discovered that
Puccini was writing an opera on
the subject he once had offered him
and which he himself was now put
ting into musical form is one Of
the many hostile episodes that
Puccini had to combat during his
life.
Two young men. Giuseppe Giacosa
and Luigi Illica, had been found to
write the libretto They were ex-
tremely clever and temperamental.
Puccini himself had good share of
the latter but he was inexorable in
not permitting it to disturb his work
when under the glow of inspiration.
He wrote and re-wrote until he was
satisfied with the result and de-
manded the same of his librettists.
Many were the scenes between the
three men and two years passed in
arguments before the story was
ready for its musical setting.
Verdi Was Puccini's Idol.
Puccini was. not always such
hard worker. In his childhood he
must have been the despair of his
family and school. mentors for his
his mischievousness and
his inability to apply himself to
study. Only his mother had faith in
him. She had the courage to ask
help from Queen Mergherita who re-
sponded by allowing him a small
stipend for music study in Milan.
He was just an ordinary student,
idling away much of his time In cafes
or in the amusements that presented
themselves. He had one idol, how
ever, the great but aging Verdi. One
day, having walked the 13 miles to
Pisa to hear Aida" he came back
a changed man. From that time he
decided to prepare himself seriously
for a career and it seems success
was but waiting for this moment to
begin showering her gifts upon him.
His first efforts at composition be-
gan to attract attention. he was able
to support himself by teaching piano
and when his first opera lie VIII"
vas produced, through the efforts Of
Arr1go Boito, who believed IA his