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Verismo operas are considered to be the predecessor of the thriller stories of television and cinema.
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The operatic style most often associated with Puccini is verismo, a genre that developed in the late 1880s in the late works of Verdi as well as those of Pietro Mascagni ( Cavalleria rusticana) and Ruggiero Leoncavallo ( I Pagliacci). Although viewed as Verdi’s true successor, Puccini’s operas are infused with German and French musical elements as well as those associated with his native Italy. Puccini’s work is viewed by historians as the culmination of the Italian bel canto tradition, a line that goes back to the works of 19 th-century opera composers such as Bellini and Donizetti.
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