Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924) was one of the most influential composers of Italian opera. He was born in Lucca, Tuscany into a long line of musicians who had served as the music directors at the cathedral of San Martino for generations. He intended to do the same; after his father’s premature death, he studied music with his uncle and some of his father’s former students until he was able to secure the funds to study at the Milan Conservatory. When he graduated in 1883, his culminating work Capriccio sinfonico won him the attention of music critics in Milan. In the same year, he entered his one-act opera Le Villi into a competition. While it did not win, it gained the interest of publisher Giulio Ricordi, who became his longtime supporter. Ricordi offered Puccini an allowance to compose operas.

Though his first attempt was a flop, Puccini soon found success. His 1893 work Manon Lescaut was the beginning of a fruitful collaboration with librettists Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa, and was a resounding success with audiences and critics alike. Soon after came La bohème (1896), which has become one of the most popular operas of all time. In 1900, he began exploring the genre of verismo with his opera Tosca. Works in the verismo genre sought to bring more realism to story lines in opera and literature, which often included depictions of violence, suffering, and poverty. Though later in life Puccini would experiment with some modern musical styles such as impressionism and exotic harmonies, he remains known primarily as a verismo composer.

In 1904, Puccini premiered Madame Butterfly, which was an initial failure, though through revision later became one of his most enduring successes. After this work, however, his output began to slow as a result of personal tragedy and scandal. In 1903, he had been involved in a dangerous car crash, during which he sustained significant injuries and had to spend months recovering. Furthermore, his jealous wife, with whom he had experienced a tumultuous relationship, brought dishonor to their family by falsely accusing their maid of having an affair with Puccini, eventually driving the young girl to commit suicide. Finally, the composer became distraught over the death of his friend and supporter, Ricordi, in 1912. 

Despite these setbacks, Puccini continued to compose successful works over the remainder of his career, including La fanciulla del West (1910), which was the Metropolitan Opera’s first world premiere, La Rondine (1917), and Il trittico (1918). He died of complications from throat cancer before his last work, Turnadot, could be completed. He is now celebrated as one of the finest composers of Italian operas to ever live; his works are frequently performed and beloved internationally.