Giacomo Puccini

Puccini wrote twelve operas and the arias from them are the most-sung audition material in the repertoire, which is exactly the problem: panels have heard O mio babbino caro and Nessun dorma more times than anyone should.

The practical purchase is an aria anthology for your voice type rather than a vocal score, unless you are learning a role. His writing sits high and demands sustained line over a full orchestra, so voice type matters more than the printed notes suggest — a lyric soprano aria and a spinto one look similar on the page and are not.

Copyright varies by work and by country: the later operas, Turandot especially, were still protected in some jurisdictions long after the earlier ones lapsed. Buy from a retailer rather than a free archive if you need to be certain.