The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1905-03-28
sCAvALLERIA' AND 'PAGLIACCI'
The Double Bill Tonight illustrates the
Modern italian School.

In preparation for the grand opera sea-
son Robert Grfggs Gale has given several
private Lectures at the residence of Ca
YOUR Langdon.. The reception given the
lectures was so enthusiastic that Mr.. Gale
was persuaded to give h e j o u r n a
a brief synopsis Of the lecture on "Caval-
leria Rusticana'' and "Pagliacci.' these
being the operas to be given in the double
bill tonight.
'Cavalleria Rusticana' is a bald story
Of sin, domestic faithlessness and speedy
retribution. The composer, Mascagni.
was born in Italy in 1868. His early life
was spent in travelling thru the country
with small opera companies. He married
and settled in a little town where he was
teaching the piano and trying to start an
orchestral school. when he caught sight
of an announcement Il, a newspaper that
one Of the largest publishing houses was Of
fering handsome prizes for one-act operas.
The time was short and Mascagni could
not wait until the libEetto was finished.
His librettists sent him their work piece
meal. scene by scene, sometimes only a
few lines on postcard Mascagni wrote
his music in great haste and just man
aged to pack off the score before the COM
petition closed.
Needless to say. he! secured first prize.
The first performance produced one OF
the history of opera. The second and
third nights brought even greater ap-
plause. In the three days Mascagni rose
from an absolutely unknown man to the
position Of the king of opera composers
of the hour. The little town where he
had been teaching made him an honor
able citizen. HIS native town, Leghorn,
struck medal in his honor. The king OF
Italy made him a cfevalier of the Order
Of oh jc NJ
accorded to Verdi until he had reached
middle life and had written ten operas.
Mascagnis return to his native town was
a march Of triumph. In short, Italy went
mad. While excitement has passed away
the popularity of the little one-act opera
remains as steady as ever.
The Story of the Opera.
Tn the story Toridu returning from his
military service finds that, Lola, his lover,
has married Alto, the village teamster.
Toridu makes love to and eventually Sc
duces Santuzza. Lola charms him back
to her side and the deserted Santuzza in
her jealousy tells her story to Alto and
exposes the infamy Of Lola and Toridu
Alto challenges Toridu in an apparent
embrace, which is according to the Sicilian
code. whereby each person bites the
others ear. a deadly defiance. The sever
the contest. They hurry away to fight
and Toridu Is killed The story is vulgar
but has the merits of life. simple direct
ness and speedy action.
THE music bears trace Of having been
written In hurry. Mascagrfi sometimes
confuses memory with inspiration. Some
parts can be traced to other composers
But along with these parts he has shown
that he has a copious fund OF melody of
his own.
"Leoncavallo, the composer and author
Of 'Pagliacci.' was five years older than
Mascagni. While not so original as an
artist, he is much more clever and inge-
NOUS.
'Pagliacci' was written somewhat in
imitation Of Mascagnis opera, but is an
improvement upon its model. To certain
extent it reproduces the features which
contributed to the success of it's predeces-
sor. The scene lies in humble life and
hinges upon the story of love, domestic
faithlessness and murder. The action Is
concise and conclusively tragic. The Sec
ond act, a play within a play, is especial
~ clever. The story is too complex for
brief synopsis