James Inverne enjoyably reconstructs the rivalry between Puccini and Leoncavallo Before Luigi Illica wrote the libretti for Puccini's Tosca and Madama Butterfly, he had joined the composer as the librettist in a race to stage the first production of La Bohème. The race was against Ruggero Leoncavallo, a composer Illica had once collaborated with on a libretto " for Puccini, his Manon Lescaut.
