Puccini’s first large-scale work and his largest non-operatic work altogether. Written at the completion of his studies at the Instituto Musicale in Lucia in 1880 and premiered shortly thereafter to high praise, locally, but never to be heard again in Puccini’s lifetime due to his decision to pursue a path of operatic composition. As it turned out, Puccini used two of the movements from the Messa in subsequent operas with no one in the audience aware that these excerpts were from the youthful Puccini’s pen!
The Messa di Gloria would not see the light of day until its resurrection in Chicago in 1952 thanks to an Italo-American priest, Dante Del Fiorentina who knew the elderly Puccini and collected his manuscripts and arranged for the publication of the Messa and its performance. Fortunately, today, we can enjoy the beautiful melodies, lyrical lines and dramatic settings that Puccini would employ in his many operas in the context of a unified, sacred work. Close your eyes and listen to the strains of Manon Lescaut or Edgar or La Bohéme as they echo through La Scala from the young Puccini’s pen to an adoring audience
