Composer of the Week - Verismo - Episode 3

The success of Mascagni and Leoncavallo encouraged a wave of young composers to bring a sense of reality of their theatrical productions. Today Donald Macleod and Roger Parker look at the work of Catalani, best known for the aria used in the French film "Diva", Giordano, who introduced socialist principles to a tale of aristocratic love in the French revolution and the work that catapulted Puccini to fame and fortune, his adaptation of the tale of the courtesan Manon Lescaut.