Cavalleria rusticana
Drama in one act
Music by Pietro Mascagni (1863-1945)
Libretto by Guido Menasci and Giovanni Targioni-Tozzetti, based on a play by Giovanni Verga.
The opera had its premier on 17 May 1890 at the Teatro Constanzi in Rome and was received with great acclaim.
The work is one of the first operas to cultivate the new style of verismo. The characters are ordinary people trapped in their everyday lives whose problems and conflicts have nothing heroic about them. This is in keeping with the music which traces the various fates with straightforward, rich southern melodies without intellectual overload. The most accurate translation of the title is “rustic” or “village” chivalry and praises the code of honour that rules the modest Sicilian society. The story takes place on Easter Sunday in the late nineteenth century.
Conductor: Asher Fisch
Stage direction: Jean Pierre Ponnelle
Characters and roles:
- Santuzza (soprano): Waltraud Meier (29 April 2012; 2, 4, 8 May 2012)
- Turiddu (tenor): Peter Seiffert (29 April 2012; 2, 4, 8 May 2012)
- Mamma Lucia, his mother
- Alfio, a carter (baritone): Lucio Gallo (29 April 2012; 2, 4, 8 May 2012)
- Lola, his wife (mezzo-soprano)