Director’s Notes:

Everything has been said about Puccini, and that’s precisely why I began with the importance this composer has had in my personal journey. While studying the topic, I asked myself a few questions: what is the image of Puccini as a man and musician today? What do masterpieces like La Bohème, Tosca, Madama Butterfly, and Turandot represent? How have Puccini’s insights connected with pop culture? The documentary answers these questions through the contributions of leading Puccini performers as well as musicians, composers, and musicologists. The narrator, Francesco Russo, plays a director intent on making a documentary about Puccini. In doing so, he reflects on the meaning of Puccini’s music, not only in terms of his personal story, but also in light of the significance it has had for Italian culture in the decades following the composer’s death.