Text Box:  33. This composer was from Italy. He was a great opera composer. His name was Giacomo (jock a mo) Puccini (Pu chee’ nee). He was born in 1858 and died in 1924, living almost 66 years. He is famous for writing extremely successful operas such as La Boheme (La Bo hem), The Bohemian in Italian…Tosca (Toss’ ka), Madame Butterfly and Turandot (Tour in dot’). The video of Paul Potts on the www.classicalmusicproject.com site is a piece from Turandot called Nessum Dorma (Nay sum dor ma)...none shall sleep in Italian. These from a man, who as a boy, did not like music. To motivate him to play the piano, Puccini’s father would put gold coins on the keys of the family’s piano so his son would play the appropriate notes. Later, when Puccini was rich and famous, he was well-known for his unusual, but unusual dress. For example, he sometimes would wear a matching shirt, scarf, and beret, with yellow boots…yes, yellow boots…and, of course…drive a fast car. His rank by Goulding is 23.