Puccini?! What you doing, being born so close to Christmas?

No matter, here’s a student work, his “Capriccio sinfonico.” Puccini wrote the piece in 1883, while still at the Milan Conservatory. You may recognize some of the music since he later recycled it in his most frequently performed opera, “La bohème.” You’ll detect the bohemians at around the 4-minute mark.

Now that you’re in the mood for hopeless Christmas romance, here’s Luciano Pavarotti and company in Acts I & II of “La bohème,” set on Christmas Eve. Interestingly, the production is directed by Gian Carlo Menotti (he of “Amahl and the Night Visitors” fame). Mimi is sung by Fiamma Izzo d’Amico – no relation, surely?