Giacomo Puccini was born in Lucca, Italy on 22 December 1858. He died in Brussels, Belgium on 29 November 1924.Puccini is regarded
as the only true successor to Giuseppe Verdi.
Puccini was attracted to music, and opera specifically, at a very
young age. He started his career at the age of 14, as organist in
local churches at his home town, Lucca. He was a
fan of Verdi,
and a performance of Aida at Pisa
in 1876 would convince
him that operatic compositions are what he wanted to spend
his life on. He was accepted to the Milan Conservatory in 1880
backed by a scholarship and financial support from an uncle.
His chief teachers were Bazzini and Ponchielli.
His participation in a competition ended in failure 1882, but not
completely. For he was discovered by a publisher called Giulio Ricordi, who organised a production at the Teatro Del Verme in
Italy's capital, Milan.
The first opera which Puccini chose the subject of was Manon Lescaut. It made him famous, inside and outside Italy. Many
consider one of his next operas his masterpiece, La bohème.
Giacomo Puccini died of throat cancer in 1924.
Some of Puccini's operas:
Le Villi
La bohème
Tosca
La rondine
During a performance in Rome of La bohème news of his death
arrived. The opera was stopped, and in respect to Puccini the
orchestra played Chopin's Funeral March in front of a stunned
audience.