Capriccio sinfonico

Puccini was aged 24 and still a student when he wrote his Capriccio sinfonico, the last in a small group of self-contained orchestral pieces he composed before turning his attention to opera. The Capriccio lasts 12 minutes, and its dramatic opening bars suggest the strong influence of Puccini’s teacher Ponchielli and of Wagner. But clear indications of Puccini’s own supreme talent for melody and lush orchestration soon surface in the more reflective episodes that follow. Sharp-eared listeners will spot in the uptempo central section of the Capriccio the same vaulting string motif Puccini used a decade later in his opera La Bohème. The Capriccio sinfonico was first heard in a student concert at the Milan Conservatory in 1883, and made a highly favourable impression. Ponchielli was particularly proud of his pupil’s achievement, and was among the first to predict for Puccini the brilliant career that followed.