Opera fanatics are a passionate lot. “It’s an addiction,” they say. “Something to die for.”

Now, if opera is an addiction, then today’s date marks the birthdate of an Italian composer who might be described as the ultimate operatic gateway drug. We’re talking, of course, about Giacomo Antonio Domenico Michele Secondo Maria Puccini, who was born in Lucca, in 1858.

Puccini is the composer of three of the most popular operas ever written: La Bohème (in 1896), Tosca (in 1900), and Madama Butterfly (in 1904).

Puccini lived and worked during the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th, and his music brilliantly blended the gorgeous melodies of the 19th century Italian bel canto tradition with the raw, often brutal dramatics of the emerging verismo, or “realism” theatrics of the 20th century.

Unlike 19th century operas, when time stands still while a soprano sings how happy (or miserable) she is, in Puccini’s operas time always moves on, often relentlessly as the action hurls toward the, usually, unhappy ending, when the soprano dies of consumption, throws herself off a castle tower, or dies by ritual suicide with a Japanese dagger.

After all, Puccini’s operas really are “something to die for.”

Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924): “Pinkerton’s Farewell” and “The Death Of Butterfly” from Madama Butterfly; Kostelanetz Orchestra; Andre Kostelanetz, conductor; Columbia MDK 46285

In all, American composer David Diamond wrote 11 symphonies, spanning some 50 years of his professional career. The last dates from 1991, and the first from 1940, completed after his return from studies in Paris shortly before the outbreak of World War II.

Diamond’s Symphony No. 1 was premiered on today’s date in 1941 by the New York Philharmonic led by famous Greek conductor Dimitri Mitropoulos. Despite winning awards and positive comments from fellow composers ranging from Virgil Thomson to Arnold Schoenberg, for years Diamond struggled to make ends meet by playing violin in various New York City theater pit bands. More than one fellowship grant, however, enabled him to live abroad for extended stays, where, he said:

“I can make my income last and live extremely well with my own villa and garden at a cost that would provide a hole-in-the-wall, coldwater flat in America … There is a spiritual nourishment, too, in that cradle of serious music [and] quiet for concentration that could never be found in an American city.”

Defending his more traditional approach, Diamond wrote: “It is my strong feeling that a romantically inspired contemporary music, tempered by reinvigorated classical technical formulas, is the way out of the present period of creativity chaos in music … To me, the romantic spirit in music is important because it is timeless.”

David Diamond (1915-2005): Symphony No. 1; Seattle Symphony; Gerard Schwarz, conductor; Delos 3119

The Stanley Kubrick film A Clockwork Orange opened in New York City on this date in 1971. The music was composed, and in some cases re-composed, by Wendy Carlos. As in his earlier hit, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Kubrick used classical music. This time, however, in keeping with the film’s futuristic storyline, the classics were adapted and arranged for Moog synthesizer by Wendy Carlos. The main title music, which we’re sampling, was Purcell’s Music for the Funeral of Queen Mary.

Carlos had just read the Anthony Burgess novel, A Clockwork Orange, when she saw a notice in the New York Times that Kubrick was at work filming it. She immediately airmailed Kubrick two Moog synthesizer pieces, one original and one a classical arrangement. Kubrick wrote back, inviting her to London to talk, and the rest is history.

Wendy Carlos had become an international celebrity with her earlier album Switched-On Bach, consisting of her Bach arrangements for synthesizer. It became the first classical recording ever to be certified platinum. Musical genius pianist Glenn Gould, whose own recording of Bach’s Goldberg Variations was one of the biggest sellers of all time, said: “Carlos’ realization of the Brandenburg Concerto No. 4 is, to put it bluntly, the finest performance of any of the Brandenburgs — live, canned, or intuited — I’ve ever heard.”

Henry Purcell (arr. Wendy Carlos): Music for the Funeral of Queen Mary; Wendy Carlos, synthesizers Eastside; Digital 81362

J.S. Bach (arr. Wendy Carlos): Brandenburg Concerto No. 4; Wendy Carlos, synthesizers; CBS/Sony 42309