Apparently Puccini wrote this exquisite piece in a single night.
White Chrysanthemums Photo: Pxhere
This is one of the few works opera composer Puccini didn’t write for the stage. Crisantemi (Chrysthanemums) was written in memory of Amadeo di Savoia, Duke of Aosta.
Amadeo, a young and ambitious Italian prince became the King of Spain after the Glorious Revolution of 1868. When the task of unifying a violent nation under constant threat of assassination and civil war proved too great, he abdicated. Amadeo returned to Turin, humiliated, and lived quietly until his death at the young age of 44.
It’s not certain how the friendship between Puccini and Amadeo began, but the duke's death moved Puccini to compose this elegiac quartet in his memory.
The piece was named after the flower of mourning and heroism in Italian tradition.
Recorded 19 May 2018, St Andrew's on the Terrace, Wellington by RNZ Concert.
Engineer: Graham Kennedy
