Giacomo Puccini (jah-ko´-mo poot-chee´-nee) was named by the great Verdi as his probable successor. That meant much from the lips of the venerable master, and the years are beginning to verify it. Puccini was born at Lucca, Italy, in June, 1858. He came from a long line of musicians, reaching as far back as his great-great-grandfather. In his own immediate family of six all were devoted to music, and Giacomo took to the art from his earliest years. He breathed it as he breathed the air of life. His precocity attracted the attention of the queen of Italy, who granted him a pension that enabled him to enter the Conservatory of Music at Milan. His mind turned toward composition from earliest years, his dominating thought always being opera,--not old-fashioned opera of melody and empty orchestration, but opera of the modern sort, vibrant with life, vigorous in dramatic expression, and enriched with all the resources of modern orchestration. Ponchielli (pon-kee-el´-lee) was his chief instructor,--Ponchielli, the composer of “Gioconda” (jo-kon´-dah), who has been credited with inspiring the modern Italian school of composers. Puccini’s first opera, “Le Ville” (le veel), was produced in 1884. It created a favorable impression--that was all. In 1889 his opera “Edgar” appeared; but it was not popular. Four years later, however, “Manon Lescaut” (mah-nong´ les-ko´) was produced. This established his success. It required courage to go to the opera house with a new work on Manon. Massenet’s “Manon” was known throughout the operatic world, where it had been made successful by the brilliant performances of Jean de Reszke and Sibyl Sanderson. But Puccini’s “Manon” is of stronger stuff, and it holds its place today against the other. It was the production of “La Bohème” (bo-hame´) in Turin in 1896 that made Puccini famous. “Tosca” followed in 1900, and in 1904 came the charming “Madame Butterfly.” This beautiful opera was hissed by the Italians when it was first produced; a fact hard to understand today, when it has become a rival of “La Bohème” in the public’s esteem. In 1910 Puccini produced his operatic setting of the American play, “The Girl of the Golden West.” It was brought out in New York with a cast of great artists, including Caruso, Destinn and Amato. It has been produced a number of times, and holds an important place in the operatic repertoire. It is not, however, generally reckoned in popularity with “La Bohème” and “Madame Butterfly.” These two charming works are masterpieces of art and sentiment. Puccini has a rare gift of melody, strong imagination, skill in technic, and an unusual sense of orchestral color. He is considered the most gifted of the present representatives of Italian operatic art. PREPARED BY THE EDITORIAL STAFF OF THE MENTOR ASSOCIATION ILLUSTRATION FOR THE MENTOR, VOL. 1, No. 47 COPYRIGHT, 1914, BY THE MENTOR ASSOCIATION, INC. [Illustration: RICHARD STRAUSS] _MAKERS OF MODERN OPERA_ _Richard Strauss_