2024 is the centenary of Puccini’s passing, and to mark the occasion, Opera Australia is presenting Tosca and Il trittico at the Sydney Opera House, as well as a new touring production of La bohème which kicks off today.

Capping it all off, Arts Centre Melbourne will soon play host to a Puccini Gala Concert featuring selections from these three operas, alongside La fanciulla del West, Manon Lescaut, La rondine and the composer’s final work, Turandot.

The concert brings together celebrated Maltese tenor Joseph Calleja and homegrown superstars Nicole Car, Peter Coleman-Wright and Julie Lea Goodwin, with Daniel Smith conducting Orchestra Victoria.

A 1924 portrait of Giacomo Puccini taken by Attilio Badodi. Photo © Wikimedia Commons/Archivio Storico Ricordi

An acclaimed exponent of Puccini’s music around the world, Smith is returning home for this very special event.

“This whole performance is a gift,” he says. “It’s a gift of humanity. It’s a gift of creativity. It’s a gift of the human spirit, as if to say, ‘Look what humans can do; we can create music that will last for eternity.’

“No one can take that away,” he adds, “and this concert...