What was Puccini's first opera?
Giacomo Puccini
Puccini's composition of La bohème was the subject of a public dispute between Puccini and fellow composer Ruggiero Leoncavallo.  In early 1893, the two composers discovered that they were both engaged in writing operas based on Murger's work.  Leoncavallo had started his work first, and he and his music publisher claimed to have "priority" on the subject (although Murger's work was in the public domain).  Puccini responded that he started his own work without having any knowledge of Leoncavallo's project, and wrote: "Let him compose.  I will compose.  The audience will decide."[17]  Puccini's opera premiered a year before that of Leoncavallo, and has been a perennial audience favorite, while Leoncavallo's version of the story was quick to fade into obscurity.[7]