Lot 306
  • 306

G. PUCCINI. REMARKABLE AUTOGRAPH SKETCHLEAF FOR "MANON LESCAUT", ACT ONE, C.1890

Estimate
8,000 - 10,000 GBP
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Description

  • Giacomo Puccini
  • Remarkable autograph sketchleaf for "Manon Lescaut", containing early drafts and sketches of important themes and melodies for the love duet in Act One
notated in brown ink, mainly in short score on two- or three-stave systems, without words, the music beginning 1) on the right-hand page, with an extended working draft in A major for Edmond and the students (at Figure 52), an instrumental passage immediately preceding the love duet for Manon and Des Grieux, with one word of text ("Davvero?", not included in the final version) comprising about forty-three bars, an eight-bar revision for strings, inserted and marked with cues ("Vi...de"), and with significant differences from the final version of this passage (cf full score pp.147-148), together with 2) on the left-hand page (marked "Finale Atto Io"), a continuation of the music in a series of six short sketches, including the melodies of Des Grieux's celebrated aria 'Donna non vidi mai' and the accompaniment for the love duet 'La queta casetta', (Figure 55), in particular the violin accompaniment that soon comes to dominate the musical texture, the manuscript replete with extensive annotations and commentaries, including ideas for composition, descriptions of the lovers' carriage as they elope, an allegro scherzoso for the chorus and a motive for the trombones (see the detailed inventory below, a-f), one idea rejected as being "too like Tannhäuser" 2 pages laid open (overall size: c.38 x 52cm), 24-stave paper ("Proprietà del R. Stabilimento Tito di Gio Ricordi--Milano"), no place or date, but probably c.1889-1890, rather worn, but legible, laid down, obscuring the verso, a few minor repairs  

Literature

G. Puccini, Manon Lescaut, [Partitura], "nuova edizione" (483 pages), Milan: G. Ricordi, [1958], pp.147-150 & 156 (cf. pp.76 & 80 in the current Ricordi vocal score).  J. Budden Puccini (2002), pp. 114-115 & 128-129. D. Schickling, Giacomo Puccini. Catalogue of Works (2003), pp.177-178, lists some 30 pages of sketches in the Accademia Filarmonica, Bologna, one of which relates to the instrumental passage (Figure 52) on the right-hand page of the present manuscript.

Condition

Condition is described in the main body of the cataloguing, where appropriate
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Catalogue Note

UNRECORDED: Working sketches for Manon Lescaut are of the greatest rarity at auction.  It was with this opera, staged in Turin in 1893, that "Puccini's genius as a theatrical composer is finally affirmed" (Budden).  Puccini had considerable trouble finalizing the libretto and appears to have composed these important themes in the love duet before the words were ready.  The musical themes include the famous aria 'Donna non vidi mai', arguably the first piece in which Puccini displays his matchless skill in writing an impassioned operatic showstopper, comparable to "Che gelida manina".  Although without any libretto, Puccini eloquently expresses the dramatic situation, where Des Grieux has seen Manon for the first time and expresses his ardour in 'Donna non vidi mai' (cf stave 8). On the right-hand page, "an orchestral montage provides a transition to the final 'area', whose centre-piece is the love duet", sketched on the left-hand page (cf Budden p.114). It culminates in the lyrical violin theme (cf stave 9), dominating Manon's vocal line, supported by the whole orchestra, and leads to the lovers' elopement (cf. Figure 57).

The left-hand page contains the following six discrete sketches, all related to this love duet:

(a) top stave: Andantino in 9/8, a sketch on three staves that, together with sketch (d), prefigures the transition to B-flat major, described by Budden as "a recollection of the turmoil, infused with fragments of Manon's motif", here a single line marked for violins, but played by the flutes, oboes and clarinets in the final version (cf pp.149-150 of the full score, played by the flutes, oboes and clarinets)

(b) staves 6- 8: a sketch on three staves of the melody for 'Donna non vidi mai' (first appearance at Fig 27, p.73), the opening four bars marked for flute, with elaborate accompaniment figures deleted and dismissed by the composer as "Troppo Tannhäuser"

(c) staves 9-11: a sketch on three staves of the accompaniment for the duet 'La questa casetta risonava', in 6/8 time, the violin theme that eventually dominates the climax of this duet-finale (cf Fig 55: p.156), 

(d) staves 14-15: a sketch on two staves, in 9/8 time, of the four bars, eventually preceding sketch (a) and concluding with the beginning of Des Grieux's 'Donna non vidi mai" (p.149, which, used like a leitmotif, "proceeds to unfold in the cellos, horn and bass clarinet").

(e) staves 18-19, a sketch  on two staves of a chord in divisi strings, possibly following on from sketch (d)

(f) staves 22-23, a sketch on three staves, marked "Finale Io / al[le]gretto Rec[itativo] duetto per Manon", not identified but presumably intended for the end of the duet sketched in (c)