Puccini in his early sixties had arrived at an important turning-point of his style. He was determined to 'strike out on new paths' and was looking for a subject with a fantastic, fairy-tale atmosphere, but characters of flesh and blood. He found this ideal synthesis in a Chinese story by the 18th century dramatist Gozzi and the ensuing opera forms an almost perfect fusion of music and drama. Puccini's trademark fresh and poignant melodies combine with brilliant, pungent harmonies to create an exotic, dramatic masterpiece of the twentieth century.