G. Puccini, Three autograph letters and three autograph postcards, to Sybil Seligman, 1911

PUCCINI, GIACOMO

Six autograph letters and postcards to Sybil Seligman, signed (“Giacomo”, “Giacomo Puccini” and “GP”), June to October 1911

About La fanciulla del West (“La Girl”) and his visit to Liverpool, informing her of the gift of a tie-pin encrusted with diamonds and rubies from Queen Alexandra (“...c’era unito un grazioso spillo di diamanti e rubini...”), thanking her for news about “La Girl” at Covent Garden, reporting productions at Brescia, Lucca (“benissimo”, although he attended reluctantly), and, in English, at Liverpool (“...sarò a Liverpool per la Fanciulla inglese…”), lamenting that she will be not be in London when he returns south, describing how dull England is without her, reporting the rehearsals in Liverpool, and lunch with the Lord Mayor (“...Come è Triste il sol del Nord! E senza Sybil l’Inghilterra val poco davvero!...La Girl a sistema ridotta andrà domani sera. Lord Mayor domattina mi da un grande colazione al Palazzo…”)

6 items, 8 pages in all, 8vo, 2 on "Torre de Lago" letter-cards with autograph address-panels (c.24.5 15.5cm), 3 on postcards, one showing Puccini on his motorboat, wearing a hat ("Il maestro Puccini nel lago di Massaciuccoli"), postmarks occasionally obscuring the text, Torre del Lago, Milan and the "Adelphi Hotel" Liverpool, c.26 June to 5 October 1911

Alexandra, Queen to Edward VII, was the dedicatee of the vocal score of La fanciulla del West.  It was staged in English in Liverpool on 6 October 1911, with a reduced orchestration. Puccini attended the performance and might have stayed longer had Sybil not been at Cernobbio on Lake Como at the time.

LITERATURE:

Three of these six items are published in Vincent Seligman, Puccini among Friends (1938), pp.209-210; Budden, Puccini, (2005), p.332.  

Please note: Condition 11 of the Conditions of Business for Buyers (Online Only) is not applicable to this lot.

To view Shipping Calculator, please click here