Giacomo Puccini, Italian composer, 1858-1924

Both during his lifetime and in posterity, Puccini’s success outstripped other Italian opera composers of his time, and he has been matched in this regard by only a handful of composers in the entire history of opera. Eleven of Puccini's 12 operas numbered among the 200 most-performed operas (worldwide, by composers of any nationality, as surveyed by Operabase). Three of his works (La bohème, Tosca, and Madama Butterfly) rank among the top ten works performed, and Puccini ranks third (behind Verdi and Mozart) in the number of performances of his operas over all.