Giacomo Puccini (December 22, 1858 – November 29, 1924) is an Italian composer known primarily for his operas.
Regarded as the greatest and most successful proponent of Italian opera after Verdi, he is descended from a long line of composers, stemming from the late-Baroque era.
Though his early work is firmly rooted in traditional late-nineteenth-century Romantic Italian opera he later develop his work in the realistic verismo style, of which he becomes one of the leading exponents.
His most renowned works are La bohème (1896), Tosca (1900), Madama Butterfly (1904), and Turandot (1924), all of which are among the most frequently performed and recorded of all operas.