Jazzed Up Classical home
Puccini album cover

Album guide

Puccini

Renato Sellani

Composer
Puccini
Released
2008
Label
Philology
Forces
Piano, Solo
Personnel
Renato Sellani piano

Renato Sellani had been making jazz versions of Italian classical melodies since at least the early 1990s, and Puccini gave that interest an entire solo album. By the time he recorded it in 2007, he had spent half a century playing with major jazz instrumentalists and accompanying singers including Billie Holiday, Sarah Vaughan and Mina.

That experience with voices matters in the care he gives Puccini’s long melodic lines. With no singer or orchestra present, Sellani does not attempt to reproduce the operas in miniature; the arias become intimate piano pieces whose phrasing still seems to inhale, pause and release like song.

Hear both

The classical side contains only the source pieces used on the album, in album order. The jazz side presents the complete album whenever a dependable copy can be embedded.

The originalsPuccini · classical source works

The classical player has sixteen entries for fifteen tracks because the opening Preludio a Puccini draws on both Un bel dì vedremo and Sì, mi chiamano Mimì; the same Un bel dì performance returns for tracks 2, 12 and 15, E lucevan le stelle serves tracks 9 and 13, and Sì, mi chiamano Mimì returns at track 7.

Jazzed upRenato Sellani · 2008
Open full album in Spotify

Spotify’s player is here for convenience; the full track listing below remains available to everyone.

Source works

The album’s complete track listing, with each classical source identified and original compositions marked plainly.

  1. Preludio a PucciniMadama Butterfly, Act II: ‘Un bel dì vedremo’; La bohème, Act I: ‘Sì, mi chiamano Mimì’, in a medley with further Puccini themes
  2. Un bel dì vedremoMadama Butterfly, Act II: ‘Un bel dì vedremo’
  3. Coro a bocca chiusaMadama Butterfly, Act II: Coro a bocca chiusa (Humming Chorus)
  4. Nessun dormaTurandot, Act III: ‘Nessun dorma’
  5. Vissi d’arteTosca, Act II: ‘Vissi d’arte’
  6. In quelle trine morbideManon Lescaut, Act II: ‘In quelle trine morbide’
  7. Mi chiamano MimìLa bohème, Act I: ‘Sì, mi chiamano Mimì’
  8. Che gelida maninaLa bohème, Act I: ‘Che gelida manina’
  9. E lucean le stelleTosca, Act III: ‘E lucevan le stelle’
  10. Ch’ella mi credaLa fanciulla del West, Act III: ‘Ch’ella mi creda libero e lontano’
  11. Valzer di MusettaLa bohème, Act II: ‘Quando m’en vo’ (Musetta’s waltz)
  12. Un bel dì vedremo, Pt. 2Madama Butterfly, Act II: ‘Un bel dì vedremo’
  13. E lucean le stelle, Pt. 2Tosca, Act III: ‘E lucevan le stelle’
  14. Recondite armonieTosca, Act I: ‘Recondita armonia’
  15. Un bel dì vedremo, Pt. 3Madama Butterfly, Act II: ‘Un bel dì vedremo’