Giacomo Puccini

Contains the complete text of the libretto with annotations in both English and Italian and a critical historical commentary. The text also includes the background of the composer, biographies of the principal singers and conductor. The two accompanying CDs contain the complete opera sung in Italian.

Giacomo Puccini (1858–1924) began his career at the end of the Romantic period and his death signaled the end of the last major age of Italian opera. During his lifetime and in posterity, the composer's popularity surpassed that of his peers, and three of his works - La bohéme, Tosca, and Madama Butterfly - rank among the twenty-first century's ten most-performed operas. With their enchanting melodies, exotic subjects, and realistic plots, Puccini's...

"Magda and her protector Rambaldo are entertaining their friends in a luxurious room of a Paris apartment. Prunier sings a song of Doretta, who dreams that one day the King favours her, but admits he cannot end the song. A young man has been waiting to see Rambaldo and now comes in. Magda recalls earlier years of happiness, particularly at the café Chez Bullier, where she once met a man she loved but whose name she never knew. It is here that the...

Filmed in High Definition during the 2003-04 Teatro Real season, Daniela Dessi takes the title role in acclaimed director Nurea Espert's new production. A melodrama of lust, betrayal and revenge.