He reveals his name: 'Love'.8 Things About Puccini You May Not Have Known You think you know Giacomo puccini? go through our list and see how many of these facts you already know!ġ. Left alone, Calaf says she is the Princess of Death, yet he kisses her. Liu kills herself and the crowd follow her body. Liu confesses she knows it and the princess orders her torture. A mob tries to kill him, then threatens to kill Timur and Liu unless they tell his real name. Calaf sings Nessun Dorma ('No-one shall sleep'). If the answer is wrong, everyone will die. There will be no sleep until the riddle has been answered. She can only escape marriage if she answers Calaf's own riddle: what is his real name. One by one she puts her riddles to Calaf, and she is horrified as he answers each one correctly. The Princess arrives and explains she has turned against all men after the death of her ancestor, a princess brutally murdered. Trumpets announce the beginning of the latest, Prince Calaf's, chance to answer.

Ministers Ping, Pong and Pang tell each other tales of the failed suitors. Prince Calaf resolves to answer the three riddles himself and his challenge is accepted. A crowd calls for the Prince of Persia's life to be saved but he is executed. The handsome Prince Calaf picks him up and recognises him as his long-lost father, Timur, a deposed king. The opera opens at the site of the execution of the Prince of Persia who has incorrectly answered the riddles. Calaf sets her a riddle, which she fails to answer and Calaf becomes the first man to kiss her. Prince Calaf correctly answers the riddles.

Failure means death for the suitor, and the Prince of Persia pays the price. Anyone wanting to marry the princess has to answer three riddles. The action takes place in ancient Peking.

Like so many operas, it has to be experienced live. It takes audiences on a journey that combines tragedy, romance and high drama that challenges singers and orchestras alike.

This is an epic opera by Italian master Giacomo Puccini that has been thrilling audiences around the world since its first performance at La Scala in Milan in 1926.Ĭompelling and adventurous, this three-act opera showcases Puccini's genius as a composer, and includes one of opera's most famous arias 'Nessun Dorma'.

List of puccini opera