Giacomo Puccini Because only three "verismo" works by Puccini continue to appear regularly on stage (the aforementioned "Cavalleria rusticana", "Pagliacci", and "Andrea Chénier"), Puccini's contribution has had lasting significance to the genre. Both during his lifetime and in posterity, Puccini's success outstripped other Italian opera composers of his time, and he has been matched in this regard by only a handful of composers in the entire history of opera. Eleven of Puccini's operas are numbered among the 200 most-performed operas (worldwide, by composers of any nationality, as surveyed by Operabase). Three of his works ("La bohème", "Tosca", and "Madama Butterfly") rank among
Non piangere, Liù Non piangere, Liù "Non piangere, Liù" ("Don't cry, Liù") is an aria sung by Calàf, the "Unknown Prince", in act one of the Italian opera "Turandot" by Giacomo Puccini. The lyrics were written by Giuseppe Adami and Renato Simoni. The scene takes place before the walls of the imperial palace. In the preceding aria ("Signore, ascolta!" - "My lord, listen!"), Liù begs Calàf not to risk his life by playing a deadly game to marry Princess Turandot, and Calàf responds to her gently, asking her not to cry. <poem lang="it" style="float:left;">Non piangere, Liù se in un lontano giorno io t'ho