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After initial music training in his hometown, he began further studies at the Milan Conservatory under A. Bazzini and A. Ponchielli. In 1884 Puccini celebrated the performance of his first opera "Le Villi" in Milan. The success of the romantic piece earned him a contract with the publisher Giulio Ricordi. In 1989, his second, also romantic opera, "Edgar," was a failure. In contrast, "Manon Lescaut" was enthusiastically received by the Turin audience in 1893. The opera revealed Puccini's artistic touch for the first time. After this first masterpiece, the composer created "La Bohème", which premiered in 1896, a highly acclaimed piece that was internationally received as a prototype of Italian opera at the end of the 19th century. "Madame Butterfly" also became a success, first in Turin in 1904 and then worldwide. "La fanciulla del West" was performed in New York in 1910. Thanks to their outstanding originality, Puccini's operas founded a musical theater that conquered its place in international opera culture alongside those of Giuseppe Verdi and Richard Wagner and has retained it to this day. The master's final work remained unfinished.

Giacomo Puccini died on November 29, 1924 in Brussels. Shortly before that, the composer had been appointed to the Italian Senate. The opera "Turandot" was completed posthumously by the composer Franco Alfano and was first performed in Milan in 1926.

Francis Marion Crawford was born on 2 August 1854 in Bagni di Lucca, Grand Duchy of Tuscany [now Tuscany, Italy]. Francis Marion was a writer, known for Son of India (1931), The White Sister (1923) and In the Palace of the King (1923). Francis Marion was married to Elizabeth Christophers Berdan. Francis Marion died on 9 April 1909 in Sorrento, Campania, Italy.

Alfredo Catalani was born on 19 June 1854 in Lucca, Grand Duchy of Tuscany [now Tuscany, Italy]. He is known for Crimson Tide (1995), A Single Man (2009) and Philadelphia (1993). He died on 7 August 1893 in Milan, Lombardy, Italy.

Ermete Novelli was born on 5 May 1851 in Lucca, Grand Duchy of Tuscany [now Tuscany, Italy]. He was an actor, known for Il mercante di Venezia (1911), Re Lear (1910) and A Spy for a Day (1913). He died on 30 January 1919 in Paris, France.