Franco Alfano completed the final scenes of Giacomo Puccini’s unfinished opera Turandot after Puccini’s death.
Puccini died on 29 November 1924 while working on Turandot, leaving the opera incomplete after the death of Liù and before the final resolution between Calaf and Princess Turandot. The publisher Ricordi asked Franco Alfano to finish the missing music using Puccini’s sketches and drafts.
The premiere took place at Milan’s La Scala on 25 April 1926, conducted by Arturo Toscanini. Toscanini stopped the performance at the point where Puccini’s completed music ended and reportedly told the audience that the maestro had laid down his pen there. Later performances used Alfano’s completion, usually in a shortened version.
Riccardo Zandonai was also considered for the task, which can cause confusion. Toscanini was the conductor, not the composer of the completion. Alfano’s contribution therefore belongs specifically to the final section of Turandot.