PUCCINI, Giacomo (1858-1924) - photo 1
PUCCINI, Giacomo (1858-1924) - photo 2

PUCCINI, Giacomo (1858-1924)

Lot 91
14.12.2022 10:30UTC +00:00
Classic
Starting price
£ 1 500
AuctioneerCHRISTIE'S
Event locationUnited Kingdom, London
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ID 870718
Lot 91 | PUCCINI, Giacomo (1858-1924)
Estimate value
£ 1 500 – 2 200
PUCCINI, Giacomo (1858-1924)

Autograph letter signed (‘G. Puccini’) to Sybil Seligman, Torre del Lago, 2 April 1909.

One page, 248 x 159mm, on a letter-card, autograph address to Sybil Seligman in Nice.



‘… my spirits are too battered to start off any work …’: a depressed and anguished Puccini in the period after the suicide of Doria Manfredi. ‘Everything is getting so complicated. Elvira burst out at me in a rage about the lawsuit; she said that I had done nothing to get it withdrawn whereas I have in fact been trying, and am still doing so. Even my son is not sympathetic to me … I am about to go to Milan for Elektra … In June I hope to come to London, but I would like to have my own bedroom, small sitting-room etc etc, with a housemaid and a piano for working, somewhere I could just touch the piano even at night; such a place as I believe will be impossible to find. The Girl [i.e. La fanciulla del West] is languishing; my spirits are too battered to start off any work … I am miserable and bored …’.



The letter is written in the period between the suicide of the Puccinis’ servant, Doria Manfredi, on 28 January, and the trial of Elvira Puccini for persecution and defamation (she had suspected her husband and Doria of having an affair). Elvira was found guilty at the ensuing trial, although her prison sentence was suspended after Puccini paid damages. The composition of La fanciulla del West was much delayed by this crisis, and its premiere in New York did not take place until 10 December 1910.





Special notice


This lot has been imported from outside of the UK for sale and placed under the Temporary Admission regime. Import VAT is payable at 5% on the hammer price. VAT at 20% will be added to the buyer’s premium but will not be shown separately on our invoice.
Place of origin:Italy, Europe
Auction house category:Letters, documents and manuscripts
Address of auction CHRISTIE'S
8 King Street, St. James's
SW1Y 6QT London
United Kingdom
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10.12.2022 – 13.12.2022
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