On the night of 25 February 1903, what should have been a routine car journey for Giacomo Puccini 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.
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.
Puccini himself, however, was less fortunate. He was nearly asphyxiated by petrol and would never have been written.
