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Show Composer Is Heir ol ManyMusicalGeniuses j . GIACOMO PUCCINI, Composer of the Beautiful Opera. 'The Girl of the Golden West." Which Will Be Presented at the Colonial Friday and Saturday of This Week. GIACOMO PUCCINI, the gifted Italian composer of "The Girl of the Golden West,n the first American grand opera over written by a composer of distinction, which will be given in tins city in English Eng-lish for the first, lime bv MS. Henry YY. Savage's English (.rand Opera company, com-pany, first; became kuowu in American musical circles through the medium of bis "La Hoheme, '' "Tosca" and "Madam Butterfly." all of which have been in Ihe repertoire of Ihe Savage Bmglish Grand Opera commpany and pro luCed by him for the first, lime in English. Puccini was bom in Eucca, Italy, in 1858, and i? one of a long line of musicians. For five generations the members of bis family have been fam ous as composers of operas and church music. Puccini 'a father was held in such high esteem by his countrymen thai his death waa regarded as a na-. na-. i iona 1 cs la roitj ( Puccihj began his musical education I at an earl age, and was assisted ill i his studies bv a gn at um le. After learning all there W8S to be learned in Lucca, a pension from the queen oJE Italy enabled him to enter the Milan conservators The pension la -ted but a year, and at the end of thai time his umde again came fco hia assistance, and be continued his studies under Pon-I Pon-I cbielli, composing some orchestral music mus-ic on completing his course that "let witli more than ordinary success, Puccini's dcbul as a composer of operatic music was made in lompefi tion for the firal prize offered by Son ZOgno His opera wa:- written a subject suggest.. i bv- Ponchielli, and was entitled " Lc Villi ' It consisted of bul one act, and dealt, with one of Hie tamiliar Ilaban folktales. While it failed to vi'in the prize, it waa pro duced in Milan in 1 s s 4 , and its imlis-putable imlis-putable sillies- induced the Riordis to purchase and produce it. amplified into two acts, at Le Scala in 1885. His second opera, "Edgar," was produced at La Seala in 1889, where it met with decisive failure. Puccihj regards "Tin- ;irl of the Golden West" as his masterpiece, and his iuterest in its first production in English was great. lie di-voled considerable con-siderable lime during the past summer to assisting the agents Ol Mr Savage in the selection of voices and conductors conduc-tors for the opera's first production in English, Mine. Lulsa Villain, Mine (rni.i DooSS, two of the primal donnas, don-nas, and Maestro (Horgio PodaCCO, the distinguished conductor, being his own personal selections for Mr Savage. |