by Lisa Kramer Reichel

Giacomo Puccini was only five years old when his father died suddenly at the age of fifty-one. His wife, Albina Magi, then thirty-three and pregnant with their seventh child, was left widowed to bring up their young family on a pension of only 75 lire a month ($15 then).

Albina Magi expected her oldest son, Giacomo, to assume the traditional family position in the reserved post of cathedral organist and choirmaster, but it was doubtful that Giacomo would ever be ready to fill the positions his predecessors held. He was not a good student. He preferred to skip school and hunt birds, smoke cigarettes and play pranks. He was sent to study music with his uncle Fortunato Magi at the Istituto Musicale. Uncle Fortunato decided that his nephew did not have the necessary talent and discipline to attend music school and stopped tutoring him.

Giacomo's mother, however, had not given up on her son and begged for the assistance of another teacher. This teacher was more patient with the young Puccini and spurred the development of his musical talent. Soon Puccini was contributing part of the salary he earned as an organist to the family's meager income.

On March 11, 1876, Giuseppe Verdi's opera masterpiece Aida was being performed in Pisa, a town twenty miles from Lucca. Puccini was determined to see this performance but did not have money for train fare to Pisa. He ran the three hours distance and managed to "talk" his way into the theatre. The performance changed Puccini's life. He was committed to becoming an operatic composer.

Puccini resolved to be admitted to the Conservatory in Milan, the operatic capital of northern Italy. Since he was unable to obtain a scholarship on achievement, Puccini's mother appealed to Queen Margherita who awarded scholarships to talented students of poor families. The Queen awarded Puccini a royal scholarship to the Conservatory.

While at the Milan Conservatory, Puccini was fortunate to become a protégé of teacher and composer Amilcare Ponchielli. Through him, Puccini made two important acquaintances that would change his career. The first was Giulio Ricordi, head of Europe's most influential music publishing company, who became a father figure and mentor to Puccini. Ponchielli also introduced Puccini to Ferdinando Fontana who became Puccini's first librettist and with whom Puccini created his first opera -- Le villi. This opera was originally written for a competition, but was rejected. Puccini and Fontana did not abandon the work. With revisions and funding, the opera was produced in 1884. It was so successful that Ricordi purchased the rights to it and commissioned another opera.

Puccini worked slowly and usually spent three to four years creating an opera. It did not matter to him how many years it would take to complete his opera, even if that meant going hungry. To have a vision of the new work was enough to sustain Puccini, who constantly searched for stories to set to music. He was a perfectionist, concerned with every detail of his opera. He had a difficult time putting his ideas on paper. His manuscripts were often so spotty that he would scrawl on them, "Excuse me" for the copyist. Puccini's passion was to work and this enthusiasm never deserted him. "Work, work, there is no better prescription for reducing one's misery."

During the years that he was working on his second opera, Edgar, Puccini again experienced the struggle of poverty, only to be disappointed by the opera's failure in 1889.

Puccini's first notable success came in 1893 with his third opera, Manon Lescaut, which was soon produced throughout Europe. The universal fame that he received from LA BOHÈME (1896) and Tosca (1900) gained him the reputation as Verdi's successor.

Just before the premiere of Madame Butterfly in 1904, Puccini married Elvira Gemignani, legitimizing their eighteen-year-old son Antonio. His later operas include The Girl of the Golden West, La Rondine, and Il Trittico. Puccini did not live to complete his last work, the passionate Turandot. He died on November 29, 1924, not quite 66 years old, of a heart attack following an operation for throat cancer caused by incessant smoking. Turandot was completed by Italian composer Franco Alfano and first performed in 1926.

Giacomo Puccini struggled to earn the honor of becoming one of the world's great opera composers. With the death of Puccini, many felt that the line of great Italian composers had come to an end.