Giacomo Puccini Popular Songs Ranking [2025]

Little WaltzGiacomo Puccini8rank/position

Puccini – Piccolo Valzer (with sheet music)

Giacomo Puccini was a master of Italian opera who was active from the late 19th to the early 20th century.

He produced one masterpiece after another—La Bohème, Tosca, Madama Butterfly—that continue to be performed around the world to this day.

In 1894, he released a short piano piece called Little Waltz.

Opera lovers will recognize it as the melody of the aria sung by Musetta in La Bohème.

In fact, Musetta’s aria originated from this Little Waltz! It’s said that Puccini got the idea while fishing and rocking in a boat on a lake, and he later transformed it into an aria that makes a powerful impact within the opera.

From the opera 'Turandot'Giacomo Puccini9rank/position

From the opera 'Turandot' / Saitama Sakae High School

Giacomo Puccini’s final opera.

Prince Calaf of the Tartar kingdom falls in love with the cruel princess Turandot, who poses riddles to her suitors and executes those who fail to answer.

He solves the riddles brilliantly, and in the end, Calaf’s love awakens love in Turandot—an inspiring story.

While preserving the original’s atmosphere—its exotic motifs, graceful melodies, tense harmonies, and sweeping grandeur—this arrangement also showcases the brilliance characteristic of wind band music.

It incorporates famous numbers such as “Is the moon not risen yet?” and “Nessun dorma.”

Nessun dorma from the opera TurandotGiacomo Puccini10rank/position

Puccini, Turandot: Nessun dorma — Del Monaco (1)

Turandot is the final opera composed by Puccini.

To marry the beautiful yet cruel Princess Turandot, one had to solve three riddles; those who failed would be beheaded.

The story tells of Calaf, a prince of the Tartar nation, who falls in love with Turandot, solves the riddles brilliantly, and the two are ultimately united.

Nessun dorma (“None shall sleep”) is sung in Act III as Calaf, confident of his victory, raises his voice in triumph.

It has become emblematic of opera itself and is frequently heard on television and elsewhere.

Opera 'Tosca'Giacomo Puccini11rank/position

Puccini, Tosca: “Vissi d’arte, vissi d’amore” — Maria Callas

It’s opera music.

It tells the tragic love story of Tosca, her lover, and the people around them.

The music flows with passionate expressions of love, delicate feelings, and at times melodies tinged with heartache.

There are also powerful sounds reminiscent of cannons, yet everything comes together to create an atmosphere that conveys the bittersweet, sorrowful ending of the lovers.

O mio bambino caroGiacomo Puccini12rank/position

[Piano] O mio babbino caro / Puccini / Puccini / Piano / CANACANA

Many of you were probably curious about the elegant piano melody playing as actress Yō Yoshida drives along a seaside at dusk.

The song used in the ENEOS oil commercial for “X PRIME GOLD BLOOD” is the aria O mio babbino caro by the Italian composer Giacomo Puccini.

It’s an aria from the 1918 opera Gianni Schicchi, and it’s a famous piece often featured on TV and in commercials.

As mentioned, it was originally an aria—that is, a solo vocal piece—so it actually has lyrics and is sung by a soprano.

Be sure to listen to O mio babbino caro as performed by an opera singer, too.

TurandotGiacomo Puccini13rank/position

LUCIANO PAVAROTTI: Nessun dorma! GIACOMO PUCCINI Turandot

Did you know that the opera piece Turandot was used in Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation? In Japan, it’s also famous as the music Shizuka Arakawa used when she won the gold medal at the Turin Winter Olympics.

In the film, it’s featured in the scene at Vienna’s famous opera house, where Tom Cruise tries to prevent the assassination of royalty, aided by an actress who attempts to back him up as they infiltrate the opera house with a gun hidden in an instrument case.

The flowing yellow long dress swaying as she ascends the opera house stairs is particularly memorable.

The film also brilliantly weaves highlights from this opera into the subsequent gunfight sequences, which are truly breathtaking.