VIVA PUCCINI!

On today's date in 1926, Giacomo Puccini's last opera, "Turandot," had its first performance at the La Scala Opera House in Milan, with Arturo Toscanini conducting. The planned 1925 premiere had to be postponed, as Puccini had died in November of 1924, leaving "Turandot" unfinished. Another composer, Franco Alfano, was engaged to complete the opera based on Puccini's sketches. It's said that after showing Toscanini his completion, Alfano asked, "What do you have to say, Maestro?" -- to which Toscanini replied "I say that I saw Puccini approaching from the rear of the stage to punch my nose."
On opening night, Toscanini stopped the performance at the point that Puccini had ceased composing, and left the podium in tears -- a touching act of homage to Puccini, and, perhaps also a vote of "no confidence" regarding Alfano's efforts. Although the first performance was well received by the critics, "Turandot" remained far less popular with the public than most other Puccini operas for the next three decades. In America it was largely ignored until Birgit Nilsson and Franco Corelli had a big success with it at the Met in 1961.
More recently, one tenor aria from "Turnadot" became a worldwide pop hit when Luciano Pavarotti's recording of it was used to promote the Italian soccer team during a World Cup competition. "I shall win" sings the tenor, and -- considering his last opera has moved from relative obscurity to worldwide fame -- it might just be the spirit of Puccini himself who is singing.