Puccini: A Listener's Guide

Giacomo Puccini (1858–1924) began his career at the end of the Romantic period and his death signaled the end of the last major age of Italian opera. During his lifetime and in posterity, the composer's popularity surpassed that of his peers, and three of his works — La bohéme, Tosca, and Madama Butterfly — rank among the twenty-first century's ten most-performed operas. With their enchanting melodies, exotic subjects, and realistic plots, Puccini's operas continue to speak to the …