Opera Circle to stage Mascagni’s Cavalleria rusticana at First Baptist Opera Circle to stage Mascagni’s Cavalleria rusticana at First Baptist November 18, 2014 Download article as PDF by Daniel Hathaway One of the most popular of all opera titles came about through a contest. 27-year-old Pietro Mascagni barely made the deadline for a new opera competition set up by Milanese publisher Edoardo Sonzogno in 1888, but won out over 72 other aspiring young Italian composers who fulfilled the entrance criterion of never before having had an opera staged. His winning entry, the one-act opera Cavalleria rusticana, received its premiere in Rome in 1890. Although Mascagni lived until 1945 and penned fourteen other stage works, none ever received the attention that “Cav” attracted. Cleveland’s Opera Circle, having previously produced Mascagni’s second opera, L’Amico Fritz, will mount two staged performances of Cavalleria rusticana on Friday evening, November 21 and Sunday afternoon, November 23, at First Baptist Church in Shaker Heights.

The cast includes Mihail Urusov as Turiddu, Rachel Morrison as Santuzza, Christopher Aldrich as Alfio, Katie Fowler as Lola and Laura Avdey as Lucia. The Opera Circle Choral Ensemble will form the chorus and a reduction of the orchestration will be played by Jacek Sobieski, conducting from the piano, violinist Hristo Popov and cellist Kent Collier. We spoke briefly with Opera Circle’s executive director, Dorota Sobieska, stage director Philip Formes and music director Jacek Sobieski to get some of their insights into the upcoming production. “Phil’s and my idea is that the main character of the whole story is the village, and the mother who represents the village is the central character,” Sobieska told us. “It took us a long time to work that out because so many big name singers take on Cavalleria rusticana. That puts the focus on the soloists rather than the chorus. But if you don’t put the chorus in the foreground, the opera becomes very thin, like a prelude to something else.” Formes agrees, and has developed his staging of the opera around the chorus.

“In a chamber production with no set and no large orchestra, you try to use the chorus as the scenery.” There are challenges that come with that. “Everybody has to become actors. Many choristers are afraid to move onstage, so I’ve set up some theatrical games to help them create a visual scene. The chorus shouldn’t sing to the audience, but engage with each other. I have to help them develop their bravery to create characters with each other.” The chorus in Opera Circle’s productions has served another important role: generating soloists for future productions. While tenor Mihail Urusov, who recently arrived in Northeast Ohio from Moscow, came to his role through an artist representative, some of the soloists in Cav started out as chorus members. “Rachel Morrison and Katie Fowler both came up through the chorus,” Sobieska said. “It gives you an opportunity to be heard, to work with the company and prove yourself.” Philip Formes also sang in the chorus for previous Opera Circle productions. After studying at the New England Conservatory and doing musical theater at CCM in Cincinnati, Formes toured with road shows and ended up singing in New Orleans Opera. Hurricane Katrina inspired his move to Ohio.

“I took the backdoor route to stage directing,” he said, “but it’s great fun for me. I’ve had lots of experience being directed, and as a singer, you always have your opinions about how it could be done better. And now here I am.” Part of the charm of producing Cavalleria rusticana in a church is that the opera takes place on Easter morning outside a church, so the performance space is already part of the plot. “We have embraced that environment to give emotional impact to the meaning of the text,” Formes said. “Using the Greek theater principle that good characters come from the right and evil ones from the left, stage left will represent the inn where Lucia runs her wine shop, and stage right will represent the church. Santuzza, Lola and Lucia will enter from stage left. Then we’ll try to use the church beyond the sanctuary, managing critical elements of the plot by spacing characters throughout the church for dimension and distance.” Though there will be a full complement of singers onstage, the instrumental accompaniment to the opera will be minimal in the extreme. Dorota Sobieska says not to worry.

“There will be more music coming from our three musicians than from many orchestras.” Music director Jacek Sobieski has had hands-on experience with chamber orchestrations of operas, having performed Massenet’s Werther with the same trio of musicians in 2011. “The combination worked well, and we have fabulous players. I will play from the piano vocal score and Hristo and Kent will play from their orchestra parts, but we will decide on doublings and solos. We will make a lot of adjustments.” Sobieski thinks that the Mascagni will be even more attractive as a pared-down orchestration. “It’s maybe easier for audiences. The music is complex, but Italian music is very melodious. Massenet composed his music on the piano but Mascagni conceived his music first for the orchestra.” Cavalleria rusticana is usually performed on a double-bill with another one-act opera, Pagliacci being its most frequent companion. Dorota Sobieska and Opera Circle have decided to let it stand alone on this occasion. “We were thinking of doing a second title, but we thought, why not try it with just one? Things are changing,” she said.

“We considered peoples’ time and thought they might prefer something shorter but focused and concentrated. The amount of beautiful music in this opera should be sufficient.” And speaking of beautiful music, why didn’t Mascagni’s other works catch on in the same way Cavalleria rusticana did? “I love L’Amico Fritz with my whole heart,” Sobieska said. “But nobody gets killed. It’s a pastoral opera about good people who end up getting married and having a family. That’s out of whack with the rest of opera. People don’t know how to react to it.” Jacek Sobieski agrees. “People like the criminal element, the tension, murder and blood. But in the case of Cavalleria rusticana, there’s a nice balance between crime and beautiful choruses.” Published on ClevelandClassical.com November 18, 2014. Click here for a printable copy of this article Return to the Front Page.

Cavalleria Rusticana And Pagliacci - Opera's Ever Popular Double Bill - The Horn Religious Music(Choral) Cavalleria Rusticana And Pagliacci - Opera's Ever Popular Double Bill Pietro Mascagni (1863-1 945) and Ruggero Leoncavallo (1857- 1919) were two Italian opera composers who achieved lasting success with only one work each . Both wrote numerous other operas which were quickly forgotten, as well as some songs which are occaisionally performed. But the two operas ,Mascagni's Cavalleria Rusticana (Rustic Chivalry),and Pagliacci, have been staples of the opera repertoire for over a century, are often performed together as they are both relatively brief, and have been vehicles for many legendary opera singers, including Enrico Caruso. Mascagni and Leoncavallo were part of a late 19th and early 20th century operatic trend called Verismo, or realism.

Verismo operas are gritty yet passionate works which deal with realistic situations drawn from everyday life,rather than the mythical subjects of Wagner, or operas about the lives of the aristocracy and ancient times. The young Mascagni won a prize for the best one act opera in 1890 with Cavalleria Rusticana, but never equaled his initial success, to his lifelong regret. This ever popular one act opera is set in a small village in Sicily at Eastertime, and is the story of a hot-headed young man,Turiddu, who has abandoned his girlfriend Santuzza , who still loves him. He had been in love with another young woman,Lola, but she married a swaggering teamster, Alfio. Turiddu has been carrying on an affair with Lola. But the jealous Santuzza tries in vain to win Turiddu back, and when he rejects her again, she curses him by wishing a bad Easter to him. She tells Alfio of the affair between Turiddu and Lola, and Alfio swears vengance. Alfio challenges Turiddu to a fight to the death,and kills him. The villagers are horrified.

Mascagnis's music is passionate and melodious, and full of Sicilian flavor and local color, with villagers singing Easter hymns and folk songs. The music may not be as profound as Wagner or Mozart, but it goes right to the jugular. Pagliacci (pal-YAH-chee) is set in a small village in Calabria in Southern Italy. The Pagliacci were groups of iternerant actors in rural Italy who presented tradional Italian Comedia Del'Arte comedies for the residents of small towns. The put on simple plays with stock Italian characters to entertain people. Canio is the head of one of these Pagliacci groups; he performs with his wife Nedda, a poor orphan girl whom he rescued and married. Other members of the troop are the ugly hunchback Tonio, and the clown Beppe. Before the opera begins, Tonio steps before the curtain to sing the prologue, in which he states that these are actors representing human emotions and life sityations, and not to be afraid of the drama. When the curtain opens, the villagers are welcoming the actors, and we meet the characters.

Nedda is unhappy with her life, and feels neglected by Canio,even though he is insanely jealous. Tonio is in love with Nedda, but she angrily rejects the ugly hunchback. She sings an aria in which she envies the birds, and wishes to be as free as they are. Nedda meets the villager Silvio, and the two have fallen in love, and sing a passionate duet in which they plan to run off with each other. Tonio overhears them, and Canio catches them attempting to run off. But the show must go on,as they say. He sings the famous aria "Ridi Pagliacco" (laugh clown), in which he pours out his grief but determines to go on with the show. He puits his clown costume on and the mae up. Later that night,the villagers have gathered for the show. Nedda performs a little play which predicts the end; she plays Columbina, receiving a lover, while the jealous Pagliaccio rages. But Canio actually steps out of character and furiously denounces Nedda for her faithlessness, and the villagers are stunned and applaud his realistic acting.

But when Silvio comes out of the audience, he stabs him and Nedda to death ! The audience is horrified. Tonio ironically says"La Comedia e Finita !" The comedy is over. No wonder these two brief operas have been so popular for over a century. They are straightforward and powerful operas which get right to the point, and the music appeals to even to opera neophytes. There are numerous recordings on CD, some separate and some combining bothe operas. Such great singers as Placido Domingo,Luciano Pavarotti, Franco Corelli, Jussi Bjorling, Renata Tebaldi,Maria Callas and others have recorded them, and there are several DVDs available. At The Opera, Triple Bill: Cavalleria Rusticana/Pagliacci/Gianni Schicchi, May 7, 2016 - capradio.org Saturday, May 7, 2016 Permalink At The Opera, Triple Bill: Cavalleria Rusticana/Pagliacci/Gianni Schicchi, May 7, 2016 Update RequiredTo play audio, update browser or Flash plugin .

Cavalleria rusticana (Italian for "rustic chivalry") is an opera in one act by Pietro Mascagni to an Italian libretto by Giovanni Targioni-Tozzetti and Guido Menasci, adapted from a play and short story written by Giovanni Verga. Considered one of the classic verismo operas, it premiered in May of 1890 at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome. Cast: Georges Pretre – conductor Decca - 1984 Pagliacci (Italian for"Clowns") is an Italian opera in a prologue and two acts, with music and libretto by Ruggero Leoncavallo. It is the only Leoncavallo opera that is still widely performed. It is often staged by opera companies as a double bill with Cavalleria rusticana by Mascagni, known as Cav and Pag. Pagliacci premiered at the Teatro Dal Verme in Milan on May 21, 1892, conducted by Arturo Toscanini.

Cast: Georges Pretre – conductor Decca - 1984 Gianni Schicchi is a comic opera in one act by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Giovacchino Forzano, composed in 1917–18. The libretto is based on an incident mentioned in Dante's Divine Comedy. The work is the third and final part of Puccini's Il trittico (The Triptych)—three one-act operas with contrasting themes, originally written to be presented together. Although it continues to be performed with one or both of the other trittico operas, Gianni Schicchi is now more frequently staged either alone or with short operas by other composers. The aria "O mio babbino caro" is one of Puccini's best known, and one of the most popular arias in opera.

Cast: Metropolitan Opera: Mascagni's 'Cavalleria Rusticana;' Leoncavallo's 'Pagliacci' - WQXR Mascagni's 'Cavalleria Rusticana;' Leoncavallo's 'Pagliacci' Brian Wise Marcelo Alvarez as Canio in Leoncavallo's 'Pagliacci.' (Cory Weaver/Metropolitan Opera) Join us Saturday at 12:30 pm for a broadcast of opera's favorite twin bill: Pietro Mascagni's Cavalleria Rusticana and Ruggero Leoncavallo's I Pagliacci. Marcelo Álvarez stars in both operas, as the faithless Turiddu in Cavalleria Rusticana and the heartbroken clown Canio in Pagliacci. Eva-Maria Westbroek is Santuzza, the wronged Sicilian heroine of Cavalleria Rusticana, and Patricia Racette is Nedda, the adulterous wife in Pagliacci. George Gagnidze also stars in both operas, singing the principal baritone roles of Alfio and Tonio, while Pagliacci also features Lucas Meachem as Silvio, Nedda’s lover.

The double bill, directed by Sir David McVicar, is conducted by Fabio Luisi. Cast: Symphony Space - Mascagni's Cavalleria Rusticana and Leoncavallo's Pagliacci LIVE from La Scala Mascagni's Cavalleria Rusticana and Leoncavallo's Pagliacci LIVE from La Scala tickets $27; Members $25; 5 or More $24; Members 5 or More $22 overview Performed at La Scala in Milan Credits Silvio Mario Cassi "The Teatro Illustrato invites young Italian musicians to participate in a new competition for a one-act opera." In 1888, the publisher Sonzogno launched its second competition for young Italian composers. The winner was Pietro Mascagni with Cavalleria rusticana, and so it was that this story of an honour killing in a Sicilian village in the late nineteenth century, from a short story of the same name by Verga, entered the operatic canon.

Owing to the intense dramatic power of the score and libretto, the opera quickly became recognised as a manifesto of Italian verismo, like the second work in this double bill, Ruggero Leoncavallo's Pagliacci, a tale inspired by a real-world crime that took place in Calabria in the second half of the nineteenth century, which the young Leoncavallo had witnessed in person. Pagliacci is the real-life tragedy of a jealous husband, viewed in the play-within-a-play tradition. Daniel Harding has developed a deep affection for the diptych, which has not played at La Scala since 1981. The staging by Mario Martone - who also works as a film director - acknowledges the power of the work's neorealist aspect. All of which provides excellent material for some of the world's greatest dramatic voices, including Salvatore Licitra as Turiddu, Luciana D'Intino as Santuzza, José Cura as Canio, Ambrogio Maestri as Tonio and Oksana Dyka as Nedda in her La Scala debut. Synopsis Cavalleria rusticana It is Easter morning in a small Sicilian village.

Santuzza, Turiddu's lover, suspects that he is striking up an affair with his old flame, Lola - despite the fact that Lola has married the well-off teamster Alfio. Santuzza beg's Turiddu's mother, Lucia, to tell her where her son is. Lucia guesses the truth about her son's adultry, and brings Santuzza into her home as the Easter parade begins. The square is filled with townsfolk entering the church. Santuzza cannot attend Mass - she was excommunicated for fornicating with Turridu, which scandalized her village. The procession heads into the Church, including Mamma Lucia. Along, Santuzza sees Turiddu coming and confronts him about his betrayal. Lola arrives, interrupting their quarrel to mock Santuzza about her excommunication before heading into Mass. The lovers continue their argument, which climaxes when Santuzza curses Turiddu. When Alfio arrives, Santuzza, in a frenzy, reveals to him the liaison between his wife and Turiddu. Alfio swears to avenge his honor.

Once Mass is over, Turiddu offers a glass of wine to Alfio, who refuses, saying it may be poisoned. Turiddu pours the glass of wine on the ground, then embraces Alfio and bites his right ear - an ancient Sicilian rite, signifying a challenge to a duel. Alfio accepts. The men leave the village to duel. It is over quickly. From the streets an indistinct murmur is heard, and then a wild cry from a woman rushing into the square: "Turiddu has been killed!" Pagliacci Prologue Tonio asks the audience to meditate on the nature of drama - how much is real, and how much is actually play-acted? Act I A group of travelling players arrives in a new town, beating their drum and shouting that their performance will begin an hour before sunset. Tonio, the company's hunchback servant, tries to flirt with Nedda. Her jealous husband Canio slaps him, and Tonio vows to himself to get even. By herself, Nedda muses uneasily on the glint of jealousy in Canio's eyes, almost as if her husband had read her heart.

She notices Tonio spying on her and rebukes him, but Tonio declares his love again. Nedda strikes him and threatens to tell Canio. Tonio mutters that she will pay for this. Silvio, Nedda's lover, appears. He convinces her to run away with him after the evening's performance. Tonio has overheard the whole thing, and rushes to bring Canio to the scene. Canio flings himself at his wife, but does not get a glimpse of her lover's face as he runs away. Canio threatens to kill Nedda, but Peppe begs him to stop, as the villagers are coming out of the church and are on their way to the performance. The actors prepare for the show, despite the outrageous backstage drama unfolding. Canio, alone, mourns his fate. Act II The audience - including the still-unidentified Silvio - assembles festively in front of the tent stage. The performance begins, with Peppe (Harlequin), Nedda (Columbine), Tonio (Taddeo) and Canio (Pagliaccio) playing the lead roles.

Columbine is listening enraptured to the serenade which Harlequin sings to her from outside her window, but Taddeo enters and declares his love. When rejected he makes heavily ironic comments on the lady's chastity. Harlequin climbs through the window and sits down for an intimate supper with Columbine after handing her a sleeping potion to give to her husband. The unexpected arrival of Pagliaccio is announced by Taddeo, who looks shaken. The dramatic situation of the afternoon seems to repeat itself in theatrical pretense. Columbine quickly sends off Harlequin with the same promise of love made to Silvio. Her words from the script ring with tremendous force in Canio's breast. For a few moments he sticks to be play, but identifies himself ever more intensely with the role of the cuckolded Clown, until he finally lives the part utterly. With mounting violence he hammers out the question written in the script. Nedda- Columbine guesses the ambiguity of Canio's accents, while the audience follows the performance with bated breath, still not suspecting the real drama enacted before their eyes.

When Columbine, still according to the play, implores: "Pagliaccio, Pagliaccio!" Canio suddenly unleashes all the wrath of his desperation ("No, a Clown I am not"). By now beyond all theatrical convention, he orders the woman to confess her lover's name. The audience, too, have begun to sense that something unusual is happening on stage. Beside himself, Canio screams for the last time "His name, his name!" and stabs Nedda, who drops on her knees calling out Silvio's name. Silvio rushes in dismay onto the stage but Canio plunges the same blade into his heart. Tonio turns towards the audience and cynically proclaims: "The comedy is over!" multimedia CAVALLERIA RUSTICANA CAVALLERIA RUSTICANA The Metro Lyric Opera of New Jersey July 20, 1996. Turiddu (the role Anthony Corleone played) Alfio -*- THE STORY Turiddu, recently returned from the army, lives with his mother, who keeps a wine shop in the village square. He was betrothed to Lola when he left for the army.

On his return, he found her married to Alfio, a teamster. Turiddu consoled himself by making love to another village girl, Santuzza. Soon, he betrayed her, then abandoned her. Lola's husband was frequently absent and she encouraged Turiddu's secret lovemaking. This situation exists before the curtain rises. The curtain rises on a village square with a church on one side and a tavern, the home of Mamma Lucia, on the other. It is Easter day. Villagers cross the square and enter the church. Santuzza appears and goes to Mamma Lucia's. She asks for Turiddu. His mother replied that he went out of town to buy wine for the tavern. Santuzza refuses to believe it and suspects that he is with Lola. Alfio, Lola's husband, enters, singing a lusty song about his horse and wagon. The villagers join his song. Lucia greets Alfio, who asks her if she still has some of her good wine left. She tells him that Turiddu has gone to Francofonte to replenish her supply. Alfio replies that he saw him that very morning near his home.

When Lucia expresses surprise, Santuzza warns her to be quiet. Alfio then goes on his way. The Easter music starts and all kneel and join in the singing. All go to church except Lucia and Santuzza. Now Santuzza pours out her sad and bitter story. Lucia is appalled! Santuzza cries out that she is accursed and begs Lucia to pray for her soul. Lucia enters the church, leaving Santuzza alone. Turiddu enters. Surprised to see Santuzza, he asks why she does not go to mass. She replies that she cannot and accuses him of perfidy. The scene is interrupted by Lola's entrance. She asks if she is going to mass. Santuzza replies that only those should go who are without sin. Lola gives thanks to God that she is without sin and enters the church. Turiddu is about to follow Lola when she tells him to stay with Santuzza. Turiddu then turns furiously on Santuzza. the quarrel becomes violent and Turiddu hurls Santuzza to the floor and runs into the church. Santuzza screams a curse after him.

Alfio enters the scene, Santuzza frantic with jealousy, tells him of his wife's relationship with Turiddu. Alfio swears vengeance. Santuzza cries in agony of remorse. They both leave the stage while the orchestra plays the intermezzo. The services are over as the people leave the church, Turiddu invites them to drink with him. Alfio enters and Turiddu offers him wine. Alfio refuses, saying that it would be like poison in his veins. Turiddu throws the wine from the glass. Alfio challenges Turiddu to a duel. They agree to meet in the garden. Turiddu now asks his mother for her blessings and asks her to take care of Santuzza should he not return. He leaves to face Alfio. Suddenly a woman rushes in shrieking that Turiddu had been killed. -*- NOTES ON "CAV" Cavalleria Rusticana, opera in one act by Pietro Mascagni (1863- 1945), libretto by Giovanni Targioni-Tozzetti and Guido Menasci.

First performance: Teatro Constanzi, Rome, May 17, 1890. "Cav," and the opera "Pagliacci," have provided a favorite double bill for years and are in fact linked, perhaps indelibly, in the mind of the opera public. The careers of Leoncavvalo (composer of Pagliacci) and Mascagni are remarkably similar in that each achieved lasting fame with a single opera, while their other works fell into comparative obscurity. Mascagni was a struggling music teacher when he learned, in 1888, that the music publisher Sonzogno was offering a prize for the best one-act opera. When he presented his score for "Cav" to the judges in Rome, it was awarded first prize. Its subsequent production made operatic history and inspired a rash of melodramatic one-act operas, Leoncavallo's Pagliacci among them. Mascagni composed other operas after his initial success, but his reputation rests almost entirely upon Cavalleria.

None of his other operas approached the success of Cav as it is called, although L'Amico Fritz is considered more refined and more carefully written than Cav, with its brutal libretto and catchy, commonplace tunes. Other operas which are sometimes performed are Zanetto, composed in 1896 and scored for strings and harp, Iris, 1898, which became the most famouse of his works after Cav, and Lodoletta, in 1917. Cav and I Pagiacci (The Clowns) are often performed together, and known as "Cav-Pag." -*- ANTON COPPOLA Renowned and revered conductor and composer, who maintains an assiduous schedule. Mr. Coppola has and presently conducts for most major opera companies throughout the U.S. including the San Francisco & N.Y.C. Opera Companies. He also has conducted musical comedy on Broadway and extends his talent to the cinema world in such movies as THE GODFATHER III and Dracula. Mr.

Coppola is now in the process of composing an opera on the difficult and controversial subject of "Sacco & Vanzetti." Cavalleria rusticana - 必应 Sign in Cavalleria rusticana Cavalleria rusticana (pronounced [kavalleˈriːa rustiˈkaːna]; Italian for "Rustic Chivalry") is an opera in one act by Pietro Mascagni to an Italian libretto by Giovanni Targioni-Tozzetti and Guido Menasci, adapted from a play and short story written by Giovanni Verga. Considered one of the classic verismo operas, it premiered on 17 May 1890, at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome. Since 1893, it has often been performed in a so-called Cav/Pag double-bill with Pagliacci by Ruggero Leoncavallo. 艺术家：a.

venturi, la scala orchestra 标题：cavalleria rusticana - a casa, a casa, amici是什么？？好像是《乡村骑士》里的，刚开始是钟声，然后一大段音乐，然后是“啊他他，啊他他...” 答 Cavalleria rusticana Composition history In July 1888 the Milanese music publisher Edoardo Sonzogno announced a competition open to all young Italian composers who had not yet had an opera performed on stage. They were invited to submit a one-act opera, which would be judged by a jury of five prominent Italian critics and composers. The best three would be staged in Rome at Sonzogno's expense. Mascagni heard about the competition only two months before the closing date and asked his friend Giovanni Targioni-Tozzetti, a poet and professor of literature at the Italian Royal Naval Academy in Livorno, to provide a libretto. Targioni-Tozzetti chose Cavalleria rusticana, a popular short story (and play) by Giovanni Verga, as the basis for the opera.

He and his colleague Guido Menasci set about composing the libretto, sending it to Mascagni in fragments, sometimes only a few verses at a time on the back of a postcard. The opera was finally submitted on the last day that entries would be accepted. In all, 73 operas were submitted, and on 5 March 1890, the judges selected the final three: Niccola Spinelli's Labilia, Vincenzo Ferroni's Rudello, and Mascagni's Cavalleria rusticana. There have been two other operas based on Verga's story. The first, Mala Pasqua! by Stanislao Gastaldon, was entered in the same competition as Mascagni's. However, Gastaldon withdrew it when he received an opportunity to have it performed at the Teatro Costanzi, where it premiered on 9 April 1890. In the 1907 Sonzogno competition, Domenico Monleone submitted an opera based on the story, and likewise called Cavalleria rusticana.

The opera was not successful in the competition, but premiered later that year in Amsterdam and went on to a successful tour throughout Europe, ending in Turin. Sonzogno, wishing to protect the lucrative property which Mascagni's version had become, took legal action and successfully had Monleone's opera banned from performance in Italy. Monleone changed the opera ‘beyond recognition’, setting the music to a new libretto. In this form it was presented as La giostra dei falchi in 1914. Premiere Cavalleria rusticana opened on the evening of 19 May 1890 at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome to a half empty house. However, the audience included not only the most authoritative music critics in the country but also Queen Margherita, a great music lover. It was a success from its opening notes. Following Stagno's rendition of the Siciliana behind the curtain the audience leaped to their feet with a thunderous applause not heard for many years. The number was encored as were a number of other numbers in the opera. It was a sensation, with Mascagni taking 40 curtain calls and winning the First Prize.

Subsequent performances Although Mascagni had started writing two other operas earlier (Pinotta, premiered in 1932, and Guglielmo Ratcliff, premiered in 1895), Cavalleria rusticana was his first opera to be completed and performed. It remains the best known of his fifteen operas and one operetta (Sì). Apart from Cavalleria rusticana, only Iris and L'amico Fritz have remained in the standard repertory, with Isabeau and Il piccolo Marat on the fringes of the Italian repertoire. Its success has been phenomenal ever since its first performance. At the time of Mascagni's death in 1945, the opera had been performed more than 14,000 times in Italy alone. In 1890, following its run of sold-out performances at the Teatro Costanzi, the opera was produced throughout Italy and in Berlin. It received its London premiere at the Shaftesbury Theatre on 19 October 1891 and its Covent Garden premiere on 16 May 1892.

American producers vied with each other (sometimes through the courts) to be the first to present the opera in that country. Cavalleria rusticana finally had its American premiere in Philadelphia at the Grand Opera House on 9 September 1891, followed by a performance in Chicago on 30 September 1891. The opera premiered in New York on 1 October 1891, with two rival performances on the same day: an afternoon performance at the Casino, directed by Rudolph Aronson, and an evening performance at the Lenox Lyceum, directed by Oscar Hammerstein. The opera received its first performance at the Metropolitan Opera on 30 December 1891 in a double bill with a fragment of Gluck's Orfeo ed Euridice, and has since received over 700 performances there, the most recent of which was in 2015 with Marcelo Alvarez as Turiddu and Eva-Maria Westbroek as Santuzza.

Place: A 19th-century Sicilian village Time: Easter morning Before the action takes place, the young villager Turiddu had returned from military service to find that his fiancée Lola had married the carter Alfio while Turiddu was away. In revenge, Turiddu had seduced Santuzza, a young woman in the village. As the opera begins, Lola, overcome by her jealousy of Santuzza, has begun an adulterous affair with Turiddu. The main square of the village Offstage, Turiddu is heard singing The Siciliana – "O Lola, lovely as the spring’s bright blooms" (O Lola ch'hai di lattila cammisa). To one side is the church; to the other is Lucia's wine shop and the house where she lives with her son, Turiddu. The villagers move about the square, singing of the beautiful spring day (Gli aranci olezzano sui verdi margini – "The air is sweet with orange blossoms") and a hymn to the Blessed Virgin Mary. Some villagers enter the church, and others wander off still singing.

Santuzza, having slept with Turiddu and suspecting that he has betrayed her for Lola, is distraught and approaches Lucia as she comes out of her house. Santuzza asks for Turiddu, but Lucia replies that he has gone to another town to fetch some wine. Santuzza tells her that he was seen during the night in the village. Lucia asks her inside to talk, but just at that moment Alfio arrives on his wagon, accompanied by the villagers. He praises the joys of a teamster's life and the beauty of his bride. Alfio asks Lucia for some of her fine old wine. She tells him it has run out and Turiddu has gone away to buy more. Alfio replies that he had seen Turiddu early that morning near his cottage. Lucia starts to express surprise, but Santuzza stops her. Alfio leaves. The choir inside the church is heard singing the Regina Coeli. Outside, the villagers sing an Easter Hymn, joined by Santuzza. The villagers enter the church, while Santuzza and Lucia remain outside.

Lucia asks Santuzza why she signalled her to remain silent when Alfio said that he had seen Turiddu that morning. Santuzza exclaims, Voi lo sapete – "Now you shall know"), and tells Lucia the story of her seduction by Turiddu and his affair with Lola. Lucia pities Santuzza, whom the villagers are considering excommunicating for her seduction. Santuzza cannot enter the church, but begs Lucia to go inside and pray for her. Turiddu arrives. Santuzza upbraids him for pretending to have gone away, when he was actually seeing Lola. Lola enters the square singing. She mocks Santuzza and goes inside the church. Turiddu turns to follow Lola, but Santuzza begs him to stay. Turiddu pushes her away. She clings to him. He loosens her hands, throws her to the ground, and enters the church. Alfio arrives looking for Lola. Santuzza tells him that his wife has betrayed him with Turiddu.

Alfio swears to take vendetta (revenge) which causes Santuzza to repent for having disclosed the affair and begs Alfio to stop to no avail. The square is empty as the orchestra plays the famous Intermezzo. The villagers come out of the church. Turiddu is in high spirits because he is with Lola and Santuzza appears to have gone. He invites his friends to his mother’s wine shop where he sings a drinking song, Viva, il vino spumeggiante – "Hail to the bubbling wine!". Alfio joins them. Turiddu offers him wine, but he refuses it. All understand that trouble is in the air. The women leave, taking Lola with them. In a brief exchange of words, Alfio challenges Turiddu to a duel. Following Sicilian custom, the two men embrace, and Turiddu, in a token of acceptance, bites Alfio’s ear, drawing blood which signifies a fight to the death. Alfio leaves and Turiddu calls Lucia back. He tells her that he is going outside to get some air and asks that she be a kindly mother to Santuzza if he should not return: Un bacio, mamma!

Un altro bacio!—Addio! – "One kiss, mother! One more kiss! – Farewell!". Turiddu rushes out. Lucia, weeping, wanders aimlessly around outside her house. Santuzza approaches and throws her arms around her. The villagers start to crowd around. Voices are heard in the distance and a woman cries, "They have murdered Turiddu!" Santuzza faints and Lucia collapses in the arms of the women villagers. Cavalleria rusticana Recordings Main article: Cavalleria rusticana discography There have been over 100 full-length recordings of Cavalleria rusticana published since it was first recorded in Germany in 1909. As in live performances of the opera, recordings of the work have often been paired with Ruggero Leoncavallo's Pagliacci. In addition to the original Italian, recordings of the work in the English, French, German, and Hungarian languages have been released. Mascagni himself conducted the opera in two recordings, the more well-known of which is the 1940 EMI recording made to mark the 50th anniversary of the opera's premiere.

The performance by the La Scala orchestra and chorus with Lina Bruna Rasa as Santuzza and Beniamino Gigli as Turiddu also has a spoken introduction by Mascagni. Originally released as an LP, it is available on CD under several historical recording labels. Cavalleria rusticana Radio A double-bill performance of Cavalleria and Pagliacci was transmitted as the first broadcast by New York City's Metropolitan Opera on 11 December 1910. Radio pioneer Lee de Forest talked Giulio Gatti-Casazza, the Met manager, into sending the program over the airwaves by using a backstage radio transmitter and a rooftop antenna, "using a long fishing pole for his mast." Enrico Caruso and Emmy Destinn were in the leading roles. Few listened. There were no radios. But public receivers had been set up in several well-advertised locations in New York City, and people could catch at least an inkling of the music on earphones.

The next day, The New York Times reported that static and other interference "kept the homeless song waves from finding themselves." In Los Angeles, California, an "Italian Night" concert was heard live "in its entirety" on May 6, 1930, as the third program of the Adohr opera series over radio station KFI, featuring "A distinguished cast . . . headed by Lisa Roma, noted lyric soprano. . . . Music lovers should not fail to tune in." A notable use of the Intermezzo from Cavalleria rusticana in the United States was as the theme for a regular radio broadcast, Symphony of the Rockies, which featured "a small string group playing light classical music" in the 1930s and 1940s over Denver radio station KOA, then owned and operated by the NBC network.

It "was a 'feed' to the entire network from the KOA studios." Cavalleria rusticana Film Apart from video recordings of live performances, there have been several cinematic versions of Cavalleria rusticana, the most notable of which are: The 1916 silent film accompanied by Mascagni's score, directed by Ugo Falena, with Gemma Bellincioni, who had created the role of Santuzza in the opera's world premiere. The 1953 film directed by Carmine Gallone, using actors miming to the voices of opera singers, with a young Anthony Quinn as Alfio miming to the voice of Tito Gobbi. (Released in the US in 1963 with the title Fatal Desire.) The 1968 film directed by Åke Falck, with Fiorenza Cossotto as Santuzza, Gianfranco Cecchele as Turiddu, Giangiacomo Guelfi as Alfio and Anna di Stasio as Lucia.

(La Scala, Milan conducted by Herbert von Karajan.) The 1982 film directed by Franco Zeffirelli, using opera singers for actors with Plácido Domingo as Turiddu, Elena Obraztsova as Santuzza, Renato Bruson as Alfio and Fedora Barbieri as Lucia. The opera's symphonic Intermezzo has figured in the sound track of several films, most notably in the opening of Raging Bull and in the finale of The Godfather Part III, which also featured a performance of the opera as a key part of the film's climax. The opera itself has been featured in a trailer for the 2015 action movie Mad Max: Fury Road. ^ Sanvitale, Francesco, La romanza italiana da salotto, EDT srl, 2002, p. 491 ^ a b Stevens, D., 2001 ^ a b Weaver 1987. ^ Time Magazine, August 13, 1945.

^ Schweisheimer, W., 1946 ^ a b Kobbé, G., 1919 ^ New York Metropolitan Opera Performance Archives ^ In Italian carrettiere, presumably an owner-driver of the traditional Sicilian cart ^ Recordings on the opera on operadis-opera-discography.org.uk Retrieved 6 February 2010 ^ For extensive annotated discographies, see Mascagni.org and Flury, R. (2001) Pietro Mascagni - A Bio-Bibliography, Greenwood Press, ISBN 0-313-29662-6 ^ The Metropolitan Opera guide to recorded opera By Paul Gruber, Metropolitan Opera Guild ^ Mallach, Alan (2002). Pietro Mascagni and His Operas, p. 298. University Press of New England.

ISBN 1555535240 ^ Joseph McLellan, "Texaco & the Met: Premium Performance; the 50th Season of Radio Broadcast Begins," Washington Post, 17 December 1989 Registration required ^ a b Hans Fantel, Sound: Out of De Forest and Onto the Air Came Music," The New York Times, 14 January 1990 ^ John S. Daggett, "Receiving Set Boon to Home," Los Angeles Times, 6 May 1930, p. 21 Registration required ^ Frances Melrose, "Airing Memories of 'Rhapsody' on Radio," Rocky Mountain News, 12 July 1998 Registration required ^ Powrie and Stilwell, 2006, p. 21. ^ Lauri-Lucente, 2003 Libretto of Cavalleria Rusticana (accessed 17 September 2011) Cavalleria rusticana: Scores at the International Music Score Library Project Kobbé, G. (1919) The Complete Opera Book, G. P.

Putnam & Sons Lauri-Lucente, Gloria Cavalleria Rusticana and metatextuality in Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather III, paper presented at the British Council conference, Reading Screens: From text to film, TV and new media, Corpus Christi College, Oxford, 6 – 12 April 2003. Mascagni.org (accessed 8 June 2007) New York Metropolitan Opera Synopsis of Cavalleria Rusticana (accessed 8 June 2007) New York Metropolitan Opera Performance Archives (accessed 8 June 2007) Official Pietro Mascagni web site (accessed 7 June 2007) Powrie, Phil and Stilwell, Robynn Jeananne, Changing Tunes: The Use of Pre-existing Music in Film, Ashgate Publishing, Ltd., 2006, p.21. ISBN 0-7546-5137-1 Rosenthal, H. and Warrack, J.

(1979) The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Opera, 2nd Edition, Oxford University Press p.88 San Francisco Opera Guild (2003) Cavalleria Rusticana and Pagliacci: A Teacher's Guide and Resource Book (accessed 23 May 2007) Schweisheimer, W., 'Pietro Mascagni - A Tragic Figure?', The Etude Magazine, April 1946. Sims, M. (2007) 'Cavalleria Rusticana, I Pagliacci, and the Verismo Style', Programme notes, Concert Opera Boston (accessed 21 May 2007) Stevens, D., 'Cav and Cav: Take 2, They're Small', International Herald Tribune, July 25, 2001 Time magazine, 'Cavalleria's Crown', August 13, 1945 Weaver, William (1987). Opera's irrestistible twins. Decca Record Company.

Willard, A., 'Pietro Mascagni, the Author of the Cavalleria Rusticana', New England Magazine, Volume VIII, March - August 1893.

Question: Mascagni's one act opera Cavalleria Rusticana is often performed as a double bill with which other opera?
Answer: I Pagliacci