Puccini’s Le Villi

This was the young Puccini’s very first opera which he wrote for a competition in Italy long before he became the operatic giant we all know and love. Sadly, his entry didn’t win and so he later returned to it, re-wrote certain parts and relaunched it to considerable acclaim in Milan. Unfortunately, being a relatively short opera, this early gem was soon eclipsed by the titanic successes of “La Boheme”, “Tosca” and “Turandot”. As a result, this ...