Born in Lucca in 1858, Puccini was the sixth of nine siblings, and part of a musical dynasty. The position of cathedral organist at the city’s Cattedrale di San Martino had been held by Puccini family members for 124 years, and as the oldest son, it had been assumed that Giacomo would eventually inherit the position, too. Tragically, though, his father died when he was just six years old, and his musical life unfolded in a different direction. 

 

He was initially taught music by his uncle, Fortunato Magi, and by the composer Carlo Angeloni at the Pacini School of Music. At 15, his interest in opera was piqued after seeing Verdi’s ‘Aida’, with the young Puccini saying that he felt “a musical window had opened”. 

 

He earned a scholarship to the Milan Conservatory, where he began to build a reputation for himself, writing an orchestral piece that was well reviewed when it was performed at a student concert in 1883. 

 

Four years later, ‘Tosca’ was first performed in Rome, the city in which it was set against the backdrop of the Napoleonic wars. Containing powerful depictions of violence, Puccini wrote the opera as a through-composed work, with its arias and choruses woven into the wider piece. 

After ‘Madama Butterfly’, Puccini’s work slowed. In 1910, he gave New York’s Metropolitan Opera its first world premiere with his Western, ‘La fanciulla del West’. But the intended premiere of his next opera, ‘La rondine’, was delayed by the outbreak of World War I. Puccini – who was not known for an interest in politics – came in for criticism for working with the Carltheater in Vienna, just as Italy and Austria found themselves on opposing sides of the war in 1915. In the end, ‘La rondine’ was first performed in neutral Monaco in 1917. 

 

His final work, ‘Turandot’, was not yet complete when Puccini died in November 1924 from complications following treatment for throat cancer. In a touching tribute, on its first performance the conductor Arturo Toscanini, Puccini’s long-time collaborator, laid down his baton after the last note that the composer had written. 

 

Puccini was initially buried in Milan, but two years later his family arranged for his remains to be transferred to a mausoleum in Torre del Lago, at the lakeside villa that had been his home for many years. Today, the town hosts an annual Festival Puccini in celebration of his works. 

Puccini’s style was very much in the Romantic tradition – but, with a career that spanned the end of the Romantic period into early modernism, he was influenced by a variety of styles, from German symphonics to French harmonic traditions or even Chinese folk melodies. It’s thought that his study of contemporary composers including Debussy, Strauss, Schoenberg and Stravinsky influenced the development of works like ‘Il trittico’, a collection of one-act operas with distinct styles. 

 

Many of his operas told stories of passion and romance, usually ending in tragedy, and their arias are filled with emotion, designed to tug at the heart strings. With a strong focus on melody, and scores that balance the orchestra and voices against each other, Puccini often used leitmotifs to represent certain characters or ideas. He spoke of needing to visualise his characters and consider their motivations while writing, and was quoted as saying: 

 

 

Thanks to this ability to bring together music and dramatic action, Puccini enjoyed popular success in his day. But 100 years on from his death, his works still speak to modern audiences, including those who may not consider themselves opera lovers. In 1990 for example, a generation of football fans was introduced to ‘Nessun Dorma’ from ‘Turandot’ during the BBC’s World Cup coverage – where Luciano Pavarotti’s dramatic delivery of the line “Vincerò!” (“I will win!”) took on new meaning. 

 

Puccini was not as prolific as many other composers: he took a fastidious approach to his work, often abandoning projects or revising them, and wrote just 12 operas in total. Yet he made a lasting mark on the world of opera, with several works that are still considered an essential part of the repertoire today. 

Professor Alexandra Wilson has written and edited two books exploring Puccini’s life and works in detail: