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Giacomo PucciniComposer
Puccini on Wikipedia
Classic Cat Biography
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Giacomo Puccini was born on the 23rd of December, 1858 in Lucca, Italy. The descendent of a long line of musicians, conductors, and composers, it was assumed would continue in his family's artistic legacy.
In 1880, a stipend from a wealthy great-uncle and a scholarship from Queen Margherita supported Puccini in his education at the music conservatory in Milan, where he wrote his first opera La Villi, which was performed at La Scala. His second work Edgar was recieved poorly. Puccini found success with his third work Manon Lescaut in 1893. Its success established him as a composer. His next two works, La Bohème, Tosca and Madama Butterfly continued his success.
In the world of twentieth century music he was known as the "King of Verismo," a true master of theater. Puccini limited his work to the operatic stage. He became known for his ability to capture the passion of life's everyday moments.
In the single decade before his death, Puccini composed La Rondine , Il Tabarro, Suor Angelica and Gianni Schicchi. He was in the process of finishing Turandot, when he was diagnosed with throat cancer in 1924. Following his death, the completion of his work was left to his apprentice, Franco Alfano. Turandot became the last opera to rank as an internationally accepted standard repertory piece. No one since Puccini has enjoyed such a following.
