Giacomo Puccini’s operas, including La Boheme, Turandot, Tosca and Madama Butterfly are some of the most popular and often produced, and help define the Italian style.

 

Puccini’s first love was religious music and he began his career as a church organist, but when he saw a production of Aida by the great Giuseppe Verdi he was inspired to immediately begin writing operas.

 

Puccini wrote very little, compared to the other great composers, perhaps because his career was often interrupted by personal tragedy, including the death of his editor, and a nearly fatal car accident. What he did write, however, has made him perhaps second only to Verdi among the great opera composers.