Like [[Pietro Mascagni]] and [[Ruggero Leoncavallo]], Puccini wrote in a style called “verismo” (reality); the operatic equivalent of the writings of the [[French]] novelist, [[Emile Zola]] with plots that tended to concentrate on unpleasant realities, quite often with unpleasant characters. | Like [[Pietro Mascagni]] and [[Ruggero Leoncavallo]], Puccini wrote in a style called “verismo” (reality); the operatic equivalent of the writings of the [[French]] novelist, [[Emile Zola]] with plots that tended to concentrate on unpleasant realities, quite often with unpleasant characters. |