The story
Puccini Festival in Torre del Lago
Torre del Lago's Puccini Festival began on 24 August 1930 with an open-air La Boheme staged near the villa where Giacomo Puccini lived, composed and is buried, on the shore of Lake Massaciuccoli. The dedicated open-air theater, once known as the Teatro dei Quattromila for its four-thousand-seat capacity, hosts Puccini's core operas each summer, making it the only festival worldwide devoted entirely to one composer performed where he actually worked.
Torre del Lago's Puccini Festival traces to 24 August 1930, when a touring company called the Carro di Tespi Lirico staged La Boheme on the shore of Lake Massaciuccoli, conducted by Pietro Mascagni and directed by Giovacchino Forzano, close to the villa where Giacomo Puccini had lived, composed most of his operas, and was buried after his death in 1924.