Pietro Mascagni won worldwide renown in 1890 thanks to the resounding success of Cavalleria Rusticana, which met with 60 (!) curtain calls at its first performance. It wasn't long before this previously little-known composer's work found itself in the international canon, appreciated for its freshness and energy, as melodic and Italian as it was modern and European. Cav's libretto, adapted from a story by Giovanni Verga, puts us in the heart of Sicily where Turriddu (impeccably performed by Jonas Kaufmann, his first time in the role!) spurns Santuzza (superb soprano Liudmyla Monastyrska) for Lola. Santuzza warns Lola's husband Alfio, who ends up killing Turriddu in a duel…
This elegant production from the Salzburg Easter Festival, staged by Philipp Stölzl and conducted with brio by maestro Christian Thielemann, beautifully represents the European spiritual, social, and aesthetic attitudes of the work, reminding us why Cavalleria Rusticana is still considered one of the exemplary works of verismo.
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