Puccini, Giacomo
(1858–1924)> COMPOSER
Puccini, Giacomo (22 December 1858, Lucca; 29 November 1924, Brussels) composer received a grant from the queen of Italy to finance his musical education at the Conservatorio in Milan, where his teacher and adviser, Amilcare Ponchielli , encouraged him to set Ferdinando Fontana ’s Le Villi for a contest being conducted by a newspaper. Young Puccini did not win any prizes for his score, but Arrigo Boito heard his work, and he intervened to promote its production at the Teatro dal Verme in Milan…