Giacomo Puccini once said: "Art is a kind of disease" ("Giacomo Puccini Quotes"). If this is true, then Puccini must have been one of the sickest artists of all time. Considered one of the best opera composers of all time, Puccini's music instills hope and passion in everyone who hears it. Other composers can also have this artistic disease, but never in the contagious way with which 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 22 December 1858 to a family with long-standing musical traditions in his hometown (Julian Budden). Considered one of the most successful 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 his adolescence and in 1874, at the age of sixteen, he studied at the Pacini Musical Institute 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 so much 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 had never reached the age limit, and scored so well on the entrance exams that he was placed in a senior-level (Budden) composition class. At the Conservatory, Puccini studied with the famous violinist and composer Antonio Bazzini; during Bazzini's tutelage, an inspired Puccini composed a Mendelssohn-style string quartet that was lost (only one movement survives) (Budden). After graduating in 1883, Puccini composed the Capriccio sinfonico, which would later serve as the opening theme for his...... middle of paper....... SearchQuotes, nd Web. 03 March 2014." Musical characteristics." Twentieth century style. ClassicalScore.com, 14 February 2009. Web. 01 March 2014.Nasou, Peter J. "Translation of Che Gelida Manina". Aria Database.com. Np, nd Web. March 03, 2014."Land Lease Summary." IMDb. IMDb.com, 2005. Web. 02 March 2014. Puccini, Giacomo. "La Bohème Madrid 2006." YouTube. YouTube, August 11, 2013. Web. February 27, 2014."Rent - Synopsis." Online musicals. Np, nd Web. March 02, 2014."Rent." IBDB. The League of Broadway, 2001. Web. 02 March 2014."Synopsis of La Bohème." The Metropolitan Opera. L'Opera Metropolitana, nd Web. 27 February 2014. Tommasini, Antonio. "The Seven-Year Odyssey That Led to 'Rent'" 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.