Many musical theater fans are anticipating the release of the Les Miserables movie this December. Though such musicals may go unnoticed in the opera world, opera fans may be interested to know that Puccini considered this same Victor Hugo novel for a potential opera.
Puccini had great difficulty picking a topic for his next opera, following the phenomenal success of La Boheme, Tosca, and Madama Butterfly. In addition to Hugo’s Les Miserables, he also considered Hugo’s The Hunchback of Notre Dame, two Oscar Wilde plays, and the final days of Marie Antoinette (which Luigi Illica, Puccini’s librettist for Boheme, Tosca, and Butterfly advocated). In addition, Puccini’s publisher Ricordi strongly encouraged Conchita, a plot about a Spanish girl in a cigarette factory in Seville that remarkably mirrored Bizet’s Carmen.
Though opera fans cannot celebrate Puccini’s Dec. 22 birthday by hearing in the cinemas what Puccini might have composed for Les Miserables, thanks to the generosity of Fathom Events, PN readers can win more free tickets to see the Met Opera Live in HD and Regal Cantera 30 in Warrenville.
This month, PN is giving away tickets to live broadcasts of Verdi’s Aida (11:55AM, Dec. 15) and Berlioz’s Les Troyens (11:00AM, Jan. 5) and encore broadcasts of Mozart’s La Clemenza di Tito (6:30PM, Dec. 19) and Verdi’s Un Ballo in Maschera (6:30PM, Jan. 9).
For a complete schedule of the Met: Live in HD season visit www.FathomEvents.com.
To enter to win tickets, please email emilyriederer@gmail.com with your name, address, desired performance(s), and answer to the following question:
What New Year’s resolution would you suggest for your favorite operatic character?
Happy Puccini’s Birthday and Happy Holidays, Readers!
