In Torre del Lago, on the shore of Lake Massaciuccoli, Giacomo Puccini lived for years and composed many of his best-loved operas. Every summer, it is here that his world comes back to life: the Puccini Festival brings opera just steps from the water, in a setting the composer himself would have recognised as his own.
A Tradition Born in 1930
The Festival was born on 24 August 1930, when the “Carro di Tespi Lirico” staged La Bohème, directed by Giovacchino Forzano, in tribute to Puccini, who had died a few years earlier. The first editions were held in the square in front of Villa Puccini, where the composer is buried in a mausoleum inside the house that was once his home. In 1966 the theatre was moved to reclaimed land next to the village’s small harbour, giving rise to the Gran Teatro all’aperto Giacomo Puccini, which today seats over three thousand spectators per season. Since 1990 the Festival has been run by the Fondazione Festival Pucciniano, established by the Municipality of Viareggio.
A Stage on the Water
What makes this festival unique is its setting: the theatre faces the lake, and Puccini’s operas — La Bohème, Tosca, Madama Butterfly and Turandot among the most performed — are staged outdoors, with the lake breeze and starry sky as a natural backdrop. A very different experience from an indoor theatre, one that draws opera lovers from all over Italy and abroad every summer.
Why Visit It While Travelling
An evening at the Puccini Festival is one of the stops on our Tuscany to Discover tour, four days combining the Carrara marble quarries, the walls of Lucca and, indeed, an evening of opera in Torre del Lago. A way to discover Tuscany through music too, not just through its landscapes.
