Oxford shop celebrates Nessun dorma composer Giacomo Puccini

Independent stationery shop Scriptum has played recordings of Italian composer Giacomo Puccini’s operas for more than 20 years, and to mark the centenary of his death, the store is selling a range of products, while producing a window display in Puccini’s honour.

The Turl Street shop has a rich history when it comes to its window displays, and in 2019, scooped the best window display gong at the Stationery Awards.

Today marks exactly 100 years since the death of Puccini, famous for operas such as La bohème, Madama Butterfly and Tosca.

Nessun dorma, associated strongly with the 1990 World Cup in Italy, is considered one of the most famous arias of all time, and is from the final act of Puccini’s opera Turandot.

Scriptum is celebrating the life of Italian composer Giacomo Puccini (Image: Ed Nix) Scriptum owner Azeem Zakria told this newspaper: “I’ve wanted to do this for a few years, for the anniversary of the death.

“Back in 2019 when we received the display award, it was in the pipeline even then.

“It absolutely feels like the right thing to do. It was important to me to do this for the anniversary, not just because we play his operas in the shop.

“The music playlist is a big part of the shop. The music has to mean something, and music is so important because it makes people feel comfortable.

“In the shop, the music evokes memories, and to us, it’s quite important that we have this set playlist.”

Scriptum is celebrating the life of Italian composer Giacomo Puccini (Image: Ed Nix) In March, Scriptum staff visited Florence to help design a variety of products, with more than 30 in total, ranging from bookmarks and postcards to journals and leatherbound notebooks.

Four new shades of ink have also been created, matching the emotions of Puccini’s operas.

Mr Zakria said: “These items are exclusive to us. The proof stage required quite a lot of back and forth to get it right, and a lot of effort has gone in to producing these items. They’ve sold really well since we released them.

“To make these products, we’re using the best artisans, making them to a really high standard, and that means we’re able to produce a really high-quality product.

“A lot of thought has gone into the colours of the inks and the names associated with them.

“For me, this was the perfect chance to release some new products.”

He added: “There’s a lot happening around the world for the anniversary, and for Oxford, a city of art and culture, I felt it was important to do something here.

“Independent businesses have to work harder, and we’ve worked more closely with our existing suppliers for the people of Oxford and our customers.”