Great Composers: Puccini

Puccini is today the most popular of opera composers, but not necessarily the most respected. From humble origins in the town of Lucca in Tuscany, he rose from the Milan conservatoire to compose some of the greatest Italian operas. His love of his home and it's local lake, his serial infidelities, his unhappy marriage, his obsession with hunting and his final illness are told alongside the story of his music. The program contains extracts from his operas, sung by Jose Cura, Leontina Vaduva and Julia Migenes, with conductor Richard Buckley and the BBC Philharmonic.