Giacomo Puccini Giacomo Puccini Giacomo Antonio Domenico Michele Secondo Maria Puccini (; 22 December 1858 29 November 1924) was an Italian opera composer who has been called "the greatest composer of Italian opera after Verdi". Puccini's early work was rooted in traditional late-19th-century romantic Italian opera. Later, he successfully developed his work in the realistic "verismo" style, of which he became one of the leading exponents. Puccini's most renowned works are "La bohème" (1896), "Tosca" (1900), "Madama Butterfly" (1904), and "Turandot" (1924), all of which are among the important operas played as standards. Puccini was born Giacomo Antonio Domenico Michele Secondo Maria
Manon Lescaut (Puccini) Manon Lescaut (Puccini) Manon Lescaut is an opera in four acts by Giacomo Puccini, composed between 1890 and 1893. The story is based on the 1731 novel "L'histoire du chevalier des Grieux et de Manon Lescaut" by the Abbé Prévost. In 1884 an opera by Jules Massenet entitled "Manon", and based on the same novel, was premiered and has also become popular. The libretto is in Italian, and was cobbled together by five librettists whom Puccini employed: Ruggero Leoncavallo, Marco Praga, Giuseppe Giacosa, Domenico Oliva and Luigi Illica. The publisher, Giulio Ricordi, and the composer himself also contributed to the