The Teatro Real exhibits twenty images of Puccini’s “unpublished” photographic side: “He was not a mere amateur”

He Royal Theater exposes through twenty images The “unpublished” photographic side of the Italian composer Giacomo Puccini,who began this activity around 1984, in which he demonstrates his “expertise” with the lens, placing nature as the main protagonist of the snapshots.

“We know that he was not a mere amateur or a passionate beginner because Puccini’s photographic production is extensive. He enjoyed excellent technical expertise and a clear aesthetic awareness.“, said the curator of the exhibition ‘Puccini photographer’, Paolo Bolpagni, at a press conference, who explained that this facet was discovered at the opening of the Puccini Archive in Torre de Lago (Italy).

The curator has stated that Puccini’s photography is a portrait of “the humble and the silent” of his environment, and his images demonstrate a “personal” touch and reveal a “mastery of the medium.” “They are well-calibrated visual compositions and a consistent production. Puccini was attracted by landscapes and everyday life, not by monuments.“, he commented.

In this discipline, Puccini was a “naturalist”, according to the curator, since his photographic work is marked by nature, a medium that he portrayed on several occasions through “poetic, lyrical and melancholic touches”, and also by images of his travels. , although far from “the typical souvenir photos of tourists“.

“They are not snapshots of memories, since they pursue an aesthetic value. For Puccini, photography is an art, not a hobby“, he assured.

In some images, Puccini himself is seen as the protagonist, such as a self-portrait located on the main floor of the Real, photographs of his family or some of places he traveled to, such as Argentina in 1905, Egypt in 1908 or New York in 1910.His gaze was not that of a tourist, as demonstrated in the images of Egypt, where he portrays the inhabitants of a village or the photos he took of a Gaucho lighting a bonfire in the middle of La Pampa.“, Bolpagni said.

Furthermore, the exhibition is special, according to the curator, because it had never been done outside of Italy and the choice of Madrid and this place “is not coincidental, since in this Theater, Puccini himself premiered, in 1892, his opera.” Edgar.”“It was the first time that one of his operas was performed outside the Italian borders, and it was here, at the Teatro Real,” has indicated.

For his part, the president of the Teatro Real, Gregorio Marañón, said that it is a “pleasure” for the institution to host the “prestigious” PHotoESPAÑA cycle. “We are thrilled and moved to host a Puccini exhibition,” he said.

‘Puccini the photographer’ It is located on the third floor of the Teatro Real and can be visited until July 22 during performances or visits to the building.

TRIBUTE TO THE SOPRANO VICTORIA DE LOS ANGELES

In parallel to ‘Puccini the Photographer’, the Teatro Real has organised an exhibition in honour of the soprano Victoria de los Ángeles, organised in collaboration with the Victoria de los Ángeles Foundation, which displays a selection of costumes and personal objects that the soprano used throughout her career.

Through the costumes she wore in the performances, we are reminded of some of her interpretations of Rosina – dressed in silk taffeta and rhinestones – in ‘The Barber of Seville’; Elisabeth – shown in dress, cape and crown – in ‘Tannhäuser’, and Cio-Cio-San, an emblematic role in her career and whose kimonos are now on display, coinciding with the premiere of ‘Madama Butterfly’ at the Teatro Real – which has dedicated these performances to her memory.