Giacomo Puccini

verismo

Truth-to-life opera: everyday people instead of gods and kings.

💡 Did you know? „Verismo“ brought ordinary, passionate people rather than gods and kings to the opera stage: Puccini was its master.

Lucca

For four generations the Puccinis had supplied the cathedral's organists there.

💡 Did you know? Puccini came from a family that had supplied church musicians in Lucca for generations: he broke with tradition and turned to opera.

La Bohème

Premiered in Turin in 1896 under the young Arturo Toscanini.

💡 Did you know? „La Bohème“, about poor, lovestruck artists in Paris, later inspired the hit musical „Rent“.

Tosca

Premiered in Rome in 1900, with the arias 'Vissi d'arte' and 'E lucevan le stelle'.

💡 Did you know? „Tosca“ ends in three deaths: a stabbing, a firing squad and a leap to death; one critic called it a „shabby little shocker“.

Madama Butterfly

The 1904 premiere at La Scala was a flop; the revised version became a worldwide success.

💡 Did you know? „Madama Butterfly“ flopped at its premiere: today the story of the abandoned Japanese bride is one of the most performed operas in the world.

Turandot

Franco Alfano completed it from Puccini's sketches; its aria 'Nessun dorma' was made world-famous by Luciano Pavarotti.

💡 Did you know? Puccini died before he could finish „Turandot“: a pupil wrote the ending from his sketches.

Nessun dorma

Through Pavarotti and the 1990 football World Cup it became the best-known opera aria of our time.

💡 Did you know? „Nessun dorma“ became a global hit through the 1990 football World Cup: introducing the aria to millions.

Aida

He walked from Lucca to Pisa, some 20 km away, to see it.

💡 Did you know? As a young man Puccini walked miles to see Verdi's „Aida“: afterwards he was set on becoming an opera composer.

Arturo Toscanini

'Here the opera ends, because at this point the maestro died': Alfano's ending was heard only the following night.

💡 Did you know? At the 1926 premiere Toscanini laid down his baton exactly where Puccini's manuscript ends, turned round and said: „Here the opera ends, for here the master died.“

cars and motorboats

In 1903 he became one of the first celebrities to survive a serious car crash.

💡 Did you know? He was also a passionate duck and waterfowl hunter at Torre del Lago.

throat cancer

A heavy smoker, he had undergone radium treatment that his heart could not withstand.

💡 Did you know? Puccini, a heavy smoker, died in Brussels in 1924 of throat cancer: during a then-novel radiation treatment.

Giacomo Puccini

Giacomo Puccini was an Italian opera composer whose works like „La Bohème“, „Tosca“ and „Madama Butterfly“ are among the most performed in the world.

💡 Did you know? His last opera „Turandot“, with the famous aria „Nessun dorma“, was left unfinished at his death.

Nessun dorma (Turandot)

The radiant tenor aria with its triumphant ‘Vincerò!’ is one of the most famous in all opera.

💡 Did you know? Through Luciano Pavarotti and the 1990 World Cup it became a worldwide hit.