More than 150 years ago, on a bright and cold day in Tuscany, Albina Magi gave birth to a baby boy. When Michele Puccini, the boy's father, looked at his son for the first time, he felt very proud. Little did he know that this tiny newborn would one day become one of the most important composers in the history of Italian opera. Giacomo Puccini was born into a family that had produced musical directors for the local cathedral for over 100 years. The young Puccini was expected to continue the family tradition, but a dark cloud settled over his life when he was still an adolescent. Puccini's father died when the boy was just six years old. Fortunately, the local cathedral took responsibility for educating him and reserved the position of musical director for him when he was old enough. The young Puccini wasn't sure he wanted to follow the path that had been laid out for him. In 1876, he saw a performance of Giuseppe Verdi's Aida and became convinced that his destiny was to write operas. After he graduated from school in 1883, he submitted his first completed composition to a local contest for one-act operas. The judges didn't like it at all, but Puccini's friends insisted and even paid some of their own money to organize a public showing. When Puccini's Le Villi was finally shown, most of the audience was amazed by its grace and dramatic power. This goes to show that you can't always rely on the opinion of "experts." Puccini created a scandal in 1890 when he ran away with a married woman named Elvira Gemignani. Even though they had a confrontational relationship and fought often, the two of them were married in 1904 after Elvira's husband died. Puccini continued to work until he died from complications arising from throat cancer in 1924. With masterpieces like La Boheme, Tosca, and Madama Butterfly, Puccini established himself as a legend of Italian opera. Some people even say that Puccini was "the greatest composer of Italian opera after Verdi." Given the beauty of all of Puccini's work, it's hard to argue against them.
約莫150多年前，阿碧娜．馬基在風光明媚的托斯卡尼生下了一名男嬰。孩子的爸爸米歇爾．普契尼第一次望見兒子時，驕傲之情油然而生。他一定沒想到，這個嬌小的新生寶寶，有朝一日竟會成為義大利歌劇史上最重要的劇作家。 賈科莫．普契尼出生於歌劇導演世家，家族為當地天主教教會服務的歷史已超過一百年。小時候的普契尼背負繼承衣缽的家族期望，但父親卻在他六歲時過世，使他幼小的心靈蒙上一層陰影。幸好，當地天主教教會肩負起養育他的責任，並為他保留了歌劇導演一職，等他年歲夠長後接任。 年輕時期的普契尼，對於自己是否接受長輩的安排猶豫不決。1876年，他觀賞朱賽佩．威爾第的《阿依達》歌劇表演後，才確信譜寫歌劇是他的歸宿。普契尼於1883年畢業後，以首次完成的歌劇作品參加當地的獨幕歌劇比賽。雖然無法獲得評審的青睞，普契尼的朋友們仍堅持自籌經費，幫他籌辦一場公演。普契尼的《女妖》劇作初試啼聲後，幾乎所有觀眾都覺得此歌劇的優雅和戲劇張力令人驚艷。這個例子告訴我們，「專家」的看法不一定可靠。 普契尼於1890年時冒出一段醜聞，當時他與名為艾爾維菈．傑米納利的已婚婦女私奔。僅管兩人時常出現口角爭執，艾爾維菈的丈夫過世後，兩人仍於1904年結褵。 普契尼不斷創作，直到1924年逝於喉癌併發症為止。膾炙人口的鉅作《波西米亞人》、《托斯卡》以及《蝴蝶夫人》，奠定了普契尼義大利歌劇傳奇大師的地位。有些人甚至認為，普契尼是「繼威爾第之後，最偉大的義大利歌劇作曲家」。了解普契尼作品之美後，你會發現這樣的評價果然名符其實。 | 
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