Editing Giacomo Puccini (section)

==Later works==
[[File:Arturo Toscanini and Giacomo Puccini 1910.jpg|alt=Giacomo Puccini with conductor Arturo Toscanini|thumb|Puccini and [[Arturo Toscanini|Toscanini]]]]
After 1904, Puccini's compositions were less frequent. In 1906 Giacosa died and, in 1909, there was a scandal after Puccini's wife, Elvira, falsely accused their maid Doria Manfredi of having an affair with Puccini. Finally, in 1912, the death of Giulio Ricordi, Puccini's editor and publisher, ended a productive period of his career.

===''La fanciulla del West''===
{{Main|La fanciulla del West}}
[[File:Giacomo Puccini.jpg|thumb|upright|Puccini, 1910]]
Puccini completed ''[[La fanciulla del West]]'' ("The Damsel of the West"), based on a play by [[David Belasco]], in 1910. This was commissioned by, and first performed at, the [[Metropolitan Opera]] in New York on 10 December 1910 with Met stars [[Enrico Caruso]] and [[Emmy Destinn]] for whom Puccini created the leading roles of Dick Johnson and Minnie. Toscanini, then the musical director of the Met, conducted.{{sfn|Smith|2004|p=544}} This was the first world premiere of an opera at the Met.{{sfn|Randall|Davis|2005|p=42}} The premiere was a great success.<ref>{{cite magazine |date=January 1911 |title=New York Acclaims Puccini's New Opera |magazine=Theatre Magazine |volume=13 |issue=119}}</ref> However, the compositional style employed in the opera, with few stand-alone arias, was criticized at the time.<ref>{{cite magazine |year=1911 |title=The Stage |magazine=[[Munsey's Magazine]] |page=6 |volume=44}}</ref> Some contemporaries also criticized the opera for failing to achieve an "American" tone.{{sfn|Eaton|1911}}<ref>{{cite journal |date=March 1911 |title=Plays and Players |journal=Hampton's Magazine |volume=26 |issue=3 |page=364 |quote=In Puccini's ''Girl of the Golden West'' we get a highly amusing operatic picture of what did not take place in California in '49.}}</ref> However, the opera has been acclaimed for its incorporation of advanced harmonic language and rhythmic complexity into the Italian operatic form.{{sfn|Siff|2012}} In addition, one aria from the opera, ''[[Ch'ella mi creda]]'', has become a staple of compilation albums by operatic tenors. It is said that during [[World War I]], Italian soldiers sang this aria to maintain their spirits.<ref name="GroverOperas" />{{sfn|Osborne|1982|page=195}} The 2008 Italian film, ''Puccini e la fanciulla'' (''Puccini and the Girl''), is based on the period of his life when he was composing the opera.

===''La rondine''===
{{Main|La rondine}}

Puccini completed the score of ''[[La rondine]]'' ("The Swallow") to a libretto by [[Giuseppe Adami]] in 1916 after two years of work, and it was premiered at the [[Opéra de Monte-Carlo|Grand Théâtre de Monte Carlo]] on 27 March 1917. The opera had been originally commissioned by Vienna's [[Carltheater]]; however, the outbreak of [[World War I]] prevented the premiere from being given there. Moreover, the firm of Ricordi had declined the score of the opera&nbsp;– Giulio Ricordi's son Tito was then in charge and he described the opera as "bad [[Franz Lehár|Lehár]]".{{sfn|Phillips-Matz|2002|p=245}} It was taken up by their rival, Lorenzo Sonzogno, who arranged the first performance in neutral [[Monaco]].<ref>Gavin Plumley, "Puccini's Bittersweet Operetta", San Francisco Opera program, Nov/Dec 2007, pp. 30–31</ref> The composer continued to work at revising this, the least known of his mature operas, until his death.

''La rondine'' was initially conceived as an operetta, but Puccini eliminated spoken dialogue, rendering the work closer in form to an opera. A modern reviewer described ''La rondine'' as "a continuous fabric of lilting waltz tunes, catchy pop-styled melodies, and nostalgic love music," while characterizing the plot as recycling characters and incidents from works like 'La traviata' and 'Die Fledermaus'.<ref name="PucciniMitSchlag">{{cite magazine |last=Davis |first=Peter G. |author-link=Peter G. Davis |date=3 September 1984 |title=Puccini mit Schlag |magazine=[[New York (magazine)|New York]] |volume=17 |issue=35}}</ref>

===''Il trittico'': ''Il tabarro'', ''Suor Angelica'', and ''Gianni Schicchi''===
In 1918, ''[[Il trittico]]'' ("The Triptych") premiered in New York. This work is composed of three one-act operas, each concerning the concealment of a death: a horrific episode (''[[Il tabarro]]''; "The Cloak") in the style of the Parisian [[Grand Guignol]], a sentimental tragedy (''[[Suor Angelica]]''; "Sister Angelica"), and a comedy (''[[Gianni Schicchi]]'').

===''Turandot''===
{{Main|Turandot}}

''[[Turandot]]'', Puccini's final opera, was left unfinished at the composer's death in November 1924, and the last two scenes were completed by [[Franco Alfano]] based on the composer's sketches. The libretto for ''Turandot'' was based on a play of the same name by [[Carlo Gozzi]].{{sfn|Ashbrook|Powers|1991|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=srFzafqtePIC&pg=PA43 43]}} The music of the opera is heavily inflected with [[pentatonic scale|pentatonic]] motifs, intended to produce an Asiatic flavour to the music. ''Turandot'' contains a number of memorable stand-alone arias, among them ''[[Nessun dorma]]''.