Drama, variety, pure life – these are the operas of Giacomo Puccini. The Italian composer created a total of 12 stage works in his lifetime. That is comparatively few: Mozart wrote 22, even Wagner, known as a slow worker, wrote 15 (some of monumental length).
BUT: Puccini’s “hit rate” is enormous. Of his 12 operas, at least 5 are absolute world hits (Manon Lescaut, La Bohème, Tosca, Madama Butterfly, Turandot). Tosca is one of the most performed operas year after year.
All 12 Puccini operas are listed below. Further below you will find brief summaries of the plots in one sentence each.