G. PUCCINI. G. PUCCINI. THREE AUTOGRAPH LETTERS SIGNED, TOGETHER WITH ONE BY ELVIRA PUCCINI, FROM NEW YORK, 1907

About his visit to New York, praising Caruso and Lina Cavalieri in Manon Lescaut, his despair at the prospect of returning to write Conchita and his desire to see the Niagara Falls; Puccini describes the great success of Manon Lescaut, reports the rehearsals for Madama Butterfly with Geraldine Farrar, who lacks subtlety, and a conductor who is an imbecile (“...magnifica serata accoglienza grande, vero grande successo, Caruso straordinario bene Cavalieri. Ora si prova Butt[erfly]: con la Farrar…”); he confesses that he is exhausted, that his nerves cannot cope with the strain of being an opera composer, exacerbated by Elvira’s constant bad moods, which leave him resentful (“...sono stufo stufo stufissimo!...”), expressing his dread at having to return to Milan to work on Conchita, and his disappointment at missing Sybil since she is leaving Nice before he returns; if she had stayed throughout March, he would have come up to meet her there ("...Bisogna cambia mestiere o trovare un buon libretto cara Sybil.  Io non so più cosa fare e il ritorno a Milano è per me una tortura e la Spagna e Vaucaire!...Forse andrò al Niagara Falls. Domani sera andrò a China Twon [sic], tutto engagé fino alla partenza...")

4 items in all, one incomplete, 8 pages by Puccini, 4 pages (partly cross-written) by Elvira (complaining that she hates being in America, cannot go out alone because of the language and that Puccini is exhausted by the rehearsals: "è cattivo come una bestia e faccio una vita orribile"), printed stationery of the Hotel Astor, New York, 23 January-18 February 1907

Seligman, Puccini Among Friends, (1938), pp.116-119

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Puccini alludes to the projected opera Conchita, with which he was disillusioned, by the location (“Spagna”) and the librettist (“[Maurice] Vaucaire”). Puccini describes Caruso as extraordinary in Manon Lescaut opposite Lina Cavalieri, the soprano dubbed “The Most Beautiful Woman in the World”, and portrayed by Gina Lollobrigida in a film of that name. It is quite clear from Elvira’s letter that, whatever complaints she had against Puccini, she felt no jealousy towards Sybil; indeed they remained on good terms.