He had been a chain smoker all his life, the master. In 1923 he began to suffer from chronic sore throat and the following year the verdict came: inoperable tumor. Puccini made one last attempt and went to Brussels to undergo an experimental surgery, but died on November 29, 1924, aged 65. Greatest Italian composer of the early twentieth century, for many years – too many – his enormous success among the public did not go hand in hand with the judgment of critics (today this is no longer the case). However, his works continue to enjoy their usual success: according to the latest Bachtrack ranking, four of the ten most performed melodramas in the world in 2023 are his (Bohème, Butterfly, Tosca and Turandot).

The one about the cruel Chinese princess was his last work. He had started working on it four years before his death, in 1920, and left it unfinished. Turandot was performed for the first time at La Scala in 1926. But halfway through the third act, Toscanini put down his baton: “Here the maestro is dead”. And he left the room. Famous for the ariaNessun Dorma, it is the most “experimental” of Puccini’s works, revealing a tension towards new harmonic, vocal and instrumental effects.