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Puccini sketched out the complete opera. He composed, revised and rewrote the piece with his librettists from 1920 until 1924 when he passed away due to heart failure. By that time he had finished all but the final duet. It fell to his publisher, Casa Ricordi, and the conductor chosen to lead the première, Arturo Toscanini, to choose a composer to complete the work. Franco Alfano, who had already written Risurrezione and La legenda di Sakúntala, wrote the duet that concludes Puccini's last opera.

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