"Per ogni frontespizio di ogni genere, per qualunque opera”. Frontespizi delle lastre per le opere di Puccini

The essay investigates the title pages (frontespizi) of Casa Ricordi’s musical editions of Giacomo Puccini’s works, emphasizing their function as a point of convergence between music, typography, and visual culture. Drawing on archival materials, correspondence, and contracts, it reconstructs the engraving practices and aesthetic decisions that informed the production of piano–vocal scores—the principal editorial format of Puccini’s operas—revealing how the title page served as both an artistic statement and a commercial marker of identity. From nineteenth-century hand engraving to the Art Nouveau typography of Madama Butterfly, the study traces the evolution of lettering and page layout as reflections of technological innovation and shifting aesthetic sensibilities. Far from being a merely decorative feature, the frontespizio emerges as a communicative medium encapsulating the history of operatic reception and the dynamic interplay between music publishing and the graphic arts.