Giacomo Puccini once said: “Art is a kind of illness” (“Giacomo Puccini Quotes”). If this is true, then Puccini must have been one of the sickest artists of all time. Considered one of the finest opera composers of all time, Puccini's music instills hope and passion in anyone who listens to him. Other composers can also suffer from this artistic disease, but never in the contagious way that Puccini's work infects the musician in all of us. Giacomo Puccini (also known as Antonio Domenico Michele Secondo Maria) was born in Lucca on December 22, 1858 to a son. family with long-standing musical traditions in his hometown (Julian Budden). Considered one of the most famous Italian opera composers, Puccini began learning music from his uncle Fortunato Magi at the age of five after the death of his father (Budden). His love of music continued into adolescence and in 1874, at the age of sixteen, he studied at the Istituto Musicale Pacini with Carlo Angeloni (Budden). Two years later, Puccini attended a performance of Verdi's Aida and discovered his true love for opera (Budden). He showed such potential that the Queen of Italy and a relative gave him money to attend the Milan Conservatory (Budden). He was accepted into the school, even though he was over age, and he performed so well on his entrance exams that he was placed in a higher level composition class (Budden) . At the Conservatory, Puccini studied with the famous violinist and composer Antonio Bazzini; during Bazzini's tutelage, an inspired Puccini composed a Mendelssohn-type string quartet which was lost (only one movement survives) (Budden). After graduating in 1883, Puccini composed the Capriccio sinfonico, which would later serve as the opening theme to his ...... middle of paper ....... SearchQuotes, nd Web. March 3, 2014. “Musical Features.” 20th century style. ClassicalScore.com, February 14, 2009. Web. March 1, 2014.Nasou, Peter J. "Translation of Che Gelida Manina." Aria.com database. Np, and Web. March 3, 2014. “Land rent summary. » IMDb. IMDb.com, 2005. Web. March 2, 2014.Puccini, Giacomo. “La Bohème Madrid 2006.” YouTube. YouTube, August 11, 2013. Web. February 27, 2014. “Rent – ​​Synopsis. » Musicals online. Np, and Web. March 2, 2014. “Rent. » IBDB. The Broadway League, 2001. web. March 2, 2014. “Synopsis of La Bohème.” The Metropolitan Opera. The Metropolitan Opera, nd Web. February 27, 2014. Tommasini, Anthony. “The Seven-Year Odyssey That Led to 'Renting'” The New York Times. The New York Times, March 16, 1996. Web. March 2, 2014. Wright, Craig M. and Bryan R. Simms. Music in Western Civilization. Boston: Schirmer Cengage Learning, 2010. Print.