Giacomo Puccini was born in Lucca, Tuscany and died in Brussels, Belgium in 1924. He was the 6th generation of organists and composers in Lucca. It was assumed he would continue as an organist there, an assumption he did not meet, instead becoming the leading opera composer of his generation. His operas were popular in part due to their dramatic realism. He was suave and handsome and indulged in many affairs, including extra-marital ones, throughout his life. The consequences of some of these affairs sometimes found their way into his operas. His most noted operas, still performed widely today, are Tosca, La Boheme, and Madama Butterfly, which was withdrawn immediately due to its poor reception.  Of course, it went on to become one of the most popular operas of all time.  Puccini died before finishing his last and grandest work,Turandot.  This was completed by a man named Franco Alfano who followed Puccini’s sketches to the letter.  Fun fact: one of the best known arias from this opera, Nessun Dorma, is sometimes played at football games.

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Paganini
Puccini
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