Ponchielli, Amilcare.

most addressed "Cara el me nulì" or "Teresina", many with drawings of tearful eyes, about all his operas and Puccini's Le villi, including the dress rehearsal and premiere of the revised version of La Gioconda, also reporting subsequent productions at Naples, and Il figliuol prodigo, including many lengthy discussions about singers, Teresina's career, and on the casting, about other composers, especially Catalani (and his opera Dejanice), and about the premiere of Puccini's Le villi ("...Fui in queste sere alla prova dell'operetta di Puccini..."), complaining about the preference shown by journalists for Boito and Tosti ("...e a questa razza di poseurs..."), discussing productions of other operas including Poliuto, Rigoletto and Lohengrin,



also mentioning Ricordi, Verdi, Ghislanzoni, Marchetti, Faccio, Pantaleoni, Jacovacci, and others



c.440 pages, mainly 8vo, a small number of letters written jointly with other family members, a few on his wife's printed stationery ("Teresina"), many autograph envelopes, Milan, Naples, Turin, Florence, Maggianico and elsewhere, 1880-1885 where dated

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This fine collection of letters, containing an overview of Ponchielli's work, was written to his most intimate recipient, his wife.

Ponchielli gives long and frank reports on the dress rehearsal for the revised version of La Gioconda on 12 February 1880, assessing each of the singers, and then on the successful premiere itself (despite the tenor going hoarse half-way through), assessing the success of each of the principal numbers.

...La Mariani disse il Suicidio in modo merviglioso, e puoi immaginarti I frenetici applausi..., specialmente nelle frasi dove ci son le note basse che conserva stupende Applausi perciò nel Recitatico; e...anche nel Terzetto per essa, che disse il richiamo della solo A te questo rosario in modo da far piangere nonchè il seguito Quest'ultimo bacio che il pianto inonda furono chiamati tutti...

Ponchielli taught Puccini at the Milan Conservatory from 1881 and here he reviews the rehearsals and premieres of Puccini's Le villi in 1884 and its revision at La Scala in 1885.  He opines that its success is assured, since the composer is being promoted by Ricordi, who owns the score, but criticizes Puccini's music for being dominated by the orchestra, which swamps the singers, and thus the characters on stage

...Non che nell'opera non vi siano di buone cose. Ma queste si trovano più nei punti dove domina e resta padrona del campo l'orchestra che quando ci sono i personaggi in scena, poichè, o il canto è semicoperto dall' orchestra, o modula troppo, e arrischia di far perdere la bussola a chi ascolta...

Ponchielli married Teresa Brambilla in 1874.  She was still touring as a celebrated operatic soprano until 1889, including all over Italy and as far abroad as St Petersburg. He discusses many of the roles she sang, including in his own Il figliuol prodigo and Paolina in Donizetti's Poliuto.