Pietro Mascagni

Pietro Mascagni was born on 7 December 1863 and spent his life chasing the shock of his first triumph. Cavalleria rusticana caused a sensation in 1890 that no second act could match, though L'amico Fritz and Iris held stages across Italy and Europe. He wrote fifteen operas, an operetta, orchestral and vocal works, songs, piano pieces — conducted his own music and others' across the continent, enjoyed immense success, created variety. But the world remembered him as the man who wrote one perfect thing and spent fifty-five years being asked why he couldn't do it again. He died on 2 August 1945.