Giacomo Puccini was the leading composer of Italian opera after Verdi. He was the master of the 'Verismo' style, which focused on the lives and struggles of everyday people rather than kings and mythological gods. His operas, including 'La Bohème' (1896), 'Tosca' (1900), and 'Madama Butterfly' (1904), are renowned for their soaring melodies and heart-wrenching dramatic climaxes. Puccini had an incredible gift for orchestration and for writing for the female voice. His final opera, 'Turandot,' which contains the famous aria 'Nessun Dorma,' was unfinished at the time of his death in 1924. Puccini's work continues to be among the most frequently performed in the world, appreciated for its emotional directness and its ability to captivate even those who are new to the world of opera.