on the calendar, "turandot," an opera written in 1924 by giacomo puccini. ♪ now, even if you're no operaf, you probably heard the most famous part of "turandot," says fred plotkin, author of "opera 101." ♪ people recognize that it's been in an number of films. >> it was in "mission impossible," starring tom cruise. >> oh, and "the sum of all fears" and "the mirror has two faces," among others. >> so we know it very well. >> it's a percussionist dream. there are tam-tams, tubular bells, glockenspiel, and, most crucially, several different-sized gongs. [ gong chimes ] >> it's set in ancient mythical china, and puccini wanted to convey mystery. >> i won't get into the plot right now, but those gongs are really important to the story. so when puccini's writing the opera, he looks all over italy for just the right gongs. no luck. then he does what any perfectionist would. >> puccini had gongs manufactured specifically for "turandot" so that he could have those ethereal chinese sounds that he heard in his head, but had not necessarily seen an instrument to produce. >> a half-century later and