{"id":47142,"date":"2024-09-10T13:18:11","date_gmt":"2024-09-10T11:18:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/54a8e865-cb45-49e0-b94b-f248fff713d2"},"modified":"2024-09-10T14:07:17","modified_gmt":"2024-09-10T12:07:17","slug":"the-car-flipped-over-pinning-him-underneath-the-great-composer-whose-need-for-speed-nearly-killed-him","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/rss_feed\/the-car-flipped-over-pinning-him-underneath-the-great-composer-whose-need-for-speed-nearly-killed-him\/","title":{"rendered":"‘The car flipped over, pinning him underneath’: the great composer whose need for speed nearly killed him"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By <\/p>

Published: Tuesday, 10 September 2024 at 11:18 AM<\/p>

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On the night of 25 February 1903, what should have been a routine car journey for Giacomo Puccini<\/a><\/strong> and his family abruptly turned nasty. The composer had been in Lucca, Tuscany, that day for a medical appointment, and was returning to his villa in Torre del Lago, about 20 miles away. With him were his partner Elvira, their son Antonio and a chauffeur.<\/p>

Four miles out of Lucca, in frosty, foggy conditions, their vehicle veered off the road and rolled 15 yards down an embankment. The car flipped over, pinning Puccini underneath but throwing the other passengers clear. Elvira and Antonio escaped with minor injuries, and the driver broke his thigh.<\/p>

It took eight months for him to recover fully<\/h2>

Puccini himself, however, was less fortunate. He was nearly asphyxiated by petrol fumes, his right shin was severely fractured and it took eight months for him to recover fully. Had it not beenfor the prompt arrival of a local doctor, he might easily have perished, and operas including Madam Butterfly<\/a><\/strong><\/em> and La fanciulla del West<\/em> would never have been written.<\/p>