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Image:GPuccini.jpg|thumb|Giacomo Puccini
Giacomo Antonio Domenico Michele Secondo Maria
Puccini (December 22, 1858 – November 29,
1924) is regarded as one of the great
opera|operatic composer|composers of the late 19th
and early 20th century.

== Life ==
Puccini was born in Lucca, Italy into a family
with a long history of music.
After the death of his father when he was only
five years old, he was sent to study with
his uncle Fortunato Magi, who considered him to be
a poor and undisciplined student.
Later, he took the position of church organist,
but it was not until he saw a performance
of Giuseppe Verdi|Verdi's Aida that he became
inspired to be an opera composer.

In 1880, the Messa di Gloria (Glory Mass),
composed at the age of 22, marked the end of
Puccini's apprenticeship as a composer and the
culmination of his family's long association with
church music in his native Lucca. The work offers
fascinating glimpses of the dramatic power that
Puccini was soon to unleash on Milan's stages. The
orchestration and the overall feeling of drama
conveyed by his music establish a dialogue with
Verdi's Requiem and perhaps already constitute a
prediction of the future operatic career Puccini
would embrace for life. 

From 1880 to 1883 he studied at the Milan
Conservatory under Amilcare Ponchielli and
Antonio Bazzini.  In 1882, Puccini entered a
competition for a one-act opera.  Although he
did not win, Le villi was later staged in 1884 at
the Teatro dal Verme; it also caught the
attention of the publisher Giulio Ricordi who
commissioned a second opera (Edgar (opera)|Edgar).

Not only was Manon Lescaut (Puccini)|Manon
Lescaut, his third opera, a great success, it also
began his relationship with the
libretto|librettests Luigi Illica and Giuseppe
Giacosa, who worked with him on his next three
operas.  The first of these, La bohème (based on
a story by Henri Murger), is considered one of his
best works, as well as one of the most romantic
operas ever composed.  His next opera, Tosca, was
Puccini's first foray into verismo.  Madama
Butterfly (based on a play by David Belasco) was
greeted with great hostility at its opening
(mostly orchestrated by his rivals), but after
some reworking it has become another of his most
successful operas.

Composition was slow after this.  In 1903 he was
injured in an automobile accident. In 1906 Giacosa
died.  In 1909, there was scandal after their maid
was falsely accused by Puccini's wife of having an
affair with Puccini and then committed suicide. 
And in 1912, Puccini's editor, Ricordi, died.

Nonetheless, in 1910, Puccini completed La
fanciulla del West, which he later on thought of
as his most powerful opera, and, in 1917, finished
the score of La rondine, a piece he reworked from
an operetta he had attempted to compose only to
find that his style and talent were incompatible
with the genre.

In 1918, Il Trittico premiered.  This work is
composed of three one-act operas in the style of
the Parisian Grand Guignol: a horrific episode (Il
Tabarro), a sentimental tragedy (Suor Angelica)
and a comedy or farce (Gianni Schicchi).  Of the
three, Gianni Schicchi is the most popular and Il
Tabarro the least.  Schicchi is sometimes
performed as a double-bill with a one act opera
such as Cavalleria Rusticana or I Pagliacci.

Puccini died in Brussels, Belgium in 1924 from
complications due to treatment for throat cancer.
Turandot, his last opera was left unfinished; the
last two scenes were completed by Franco Alfano.
In 2001 a new completion of the final scenes was
made by Luciano Berio.

== Music ==
Though Puccini is mainly known for his operas, he
also wrote some short orchestral pieces and
chamber music pieces.

Puccini's operas:
*Le villi, 1884. 
*Edgar (opera)|Edgar, 1889.
*Manon Lescaut (Puccini)|Manon Lescaut, 1893.
*La bohème, 1896.
*Tosca, 1900.
*Madama Butterfly, 1904.
*La fanciulla del West, 1910.
*La rondine, 1917.
*Il Trittico, 1918.
*Turandot, 1926.



*Messa di Gloria (Gloria Mass, Luca, 1880) 
*Le villi (1884-05-31 Teatro dal Verme, Milan) 
*Le villi rev (1884-12-26 Teatro Regio, Turin) 
*Edgar (1889-04-21 La Scala, theatre|Teatro alla
Scala, Milan) 
*Edgar rev (1892-02-28 Teatro Communale, Ferrara) 
*Manon Lescaut (1893-02-01 Teatro Regio, Turin) 
*La bohème (1896-02-01 Teatro Regio, Turin) 
*Tosca (1900-01-14 Teatro Costanzi, Rome) 
*Madama Butterfly (1904-02-17 Teatro alla Scala,
Milan) 
*Madama Butterfly rev (1904-05-28 Teatro Grande,
Brescia) 
*Edgar rev 2 (1905-07-08 Teatro ColĂłn?, Buenos
Aires) 
*Madama Butterfly rev 2 (1905-07-10 Covent Garden,
London) 
*Madama Butterfly rev 3 (1905-12-28 Opéra
Comique, Paris) 
*La fanciulla del West (1910-12-10 Metropolitan
Opera, New York) 
*La rondine (1917-03-27 Opéra, Monte Carlo) 
*Il trittico (1918-12-14 Metropolitan Opera, New
York): 
**Il tabarro 
**Suor Angelica 
**Gianni Schicchi - famous for the aria "O mio
babbino caro"
*Turandot (1926-04-25 Teatro alla Scala, Milan)

==Media==
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== References ==

* http://www.bohemianopera.com/puccini.htm
* http://w3.rz-berlin.mpg.de/cmp/puccini.html