Cavalleria rusticana / Pagliacci

In southern Italy where passions run high, we are straight to the heart of some bloody events. In Pagliacci, Canio kills his attractive young wife Nedda and her lover on stage during a performance. In Cavalleria rusticana, the frivolous Lola gets back together with her former lover, who becomes a marked man under Sicilian law. When the code of honour of this patriarchal society is shaken by betrayal, jealousy, provocation and deadly hatred, tragedy becomes inevitable.

In 1888, the music publisher Edoardo Sonzogno announced a competition for young Italian composers to write a one-act opera. The 25-year-old Pietro Mascagni was inspired to write Cavalleria rusticana. Ignoring her husband’s doubts, credit is due to Mascagni’s wife for actually submitting the score without him knowing. The premiere, in 1890 in Rome, was a true sensation, and the verismo opera, depicting ordinary contemporary people, would remain Mascagni’s greatest success. Ruggero Leoncavallo decided to follow suit and duly composed his very first opera, Pagliacci, in the verismo style. Premiered in 1892 in Milan, the piece also met with an enthusiastic response. In 1893, the two operas were first staged as a double bill, and ever since have been operatic inseparable twins. Opera Orchestra National Montpellier’s production, directed by Silvia Paoli and conducted by Yoel Gamzou, sets out to give the Cav Pag duo the contemporary immediacy that must have struck the first audiences. Here an austere concrete amphitheatre from modern suburban Italy is the backdrop for some of the most famous and touching arias in all opera.