| Cavalleria rusticana | |
|---|---|
| Opera byPietro Mascagni | |
 Scene from the world premiere of the opera | |
| Librettist | Giovanni Targioni-Tozzetti andGuido Menasci |
| Language | Italian |
| Based on | Cavalleria rusticana |
| Premiere | |
Cavalleria rusticana (pronounced[kavalleˈriːarustiˈkaːna];Italian for 'RusticChivalry') is anopera in one act byPietro Mascagni to an Italianlibretto byGiovanni Targioni-Tozzetti andGuido Menasci, adapted from an 1880short story of the same name and subsequent play byGiovanni Verga. Considered one of the classicverismo operas, it premiered on 17 May 1890 at theTeatro Costanzi in Rome. Since1893, it has often been performed in a so-calledCav/Pag double-bill withPagliacci byRuggero Leoncavallo.[1]
In July 1888 the Milanese music publisherEdoardo 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 theItalian Royal Naval Academy inLivorno, to provide a libretto. Targioni-Tozzetti choseCavalleria rusticana, a popular short story (and play) byGiovanni 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. As Mascagni believed that the work was hastily written and not reflective of his best efforts, his courage deserted him and he placed the draft in a drawer, from where his wife, Argenide Marcellina "Lina" Mascagni, removed it and submitted it on the last day that entries would be accepted.[2] In all, 73 operas were submitted, and on 5 March 1890, the judges selected the final three:Niccola Spinelli'sLabilia,Vincenzo Ferroni [it]'sRudello, and Mascagni'sCavalleria rusticana.[3]
There have been two other operas based on Verga's story. The first,Mala Pasqua! (Bad Easter!) byStanislao 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.[4] In the 1907 Sonzogno competition,Domenico Monleone submitted an opera based on the story, and likewise calledCavalleria 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.[5] Monleone changed the opera 'beyond recognition', setting the music to a new libretto. In this form it was presented asLa giostra dei falchi in 1914.[5]
Cavalleria rusticana opened on the evening of 17 May 1890 at theTeatro Costanzi in Rome to a half empty house. However, the audience included not only the most authoritative music critics in the country but alsoQueen 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 leapt to their feet with a thunderous applause not heard for many years. The Siciliana wasencored as were several other numbers in the opera.[6] It was a sensation, with Mascagni taking 40 curtain calls and winning the First Prize.[6][7]
Although Mascagni had started writing two other operas earlier (Pinotta, premiered in 1932, andGuglielmo 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 fromCavalleria rusticana, onlyIris andL'amico Fritz have remained in the standard repertory, withIsabeau andIl piccolo Marat on the fringes of the Italian repertoire. At the time of Mascagni's death in 1945, the opera had been performed more than 14,000 times in Italy alone.[8]
In 1890, following its run of sold-out performances at the Teatro Costanzi, the opera was produced throughout Italy and in Berlin.Cavalleria Rusticana had its Western Hemisphere premiere at the Teatro Nacional inBuenos Aires on 28 February 1891, and a further run of performances at the Teatro de la Opera from 5 August 1891.[9] It received its London premiere at theShaftesbury Theatre on 19 October 1891 and itsCovent Garden premiere on 16 May 1892.[10]
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 theGrand Opera House on 9 September 1891, followed by a performancein Chicago on 30 September 1891. The opera premiered in New York City on 1 October 1891, with two rival performances on the same day: an afternoon performance at the Casino, directed byRudolph Aronson, and an evening performance at the Lenox Lyceum, directed byOscar Hammerstein.[10]
The opera received its first performance at theMetropolitan Opera on 30 December 1891 in a double bill with a fragment ofGluck'sOrfeo ed Euridice, and has since received over 700 performances there.
The opera was played during the 1920s in African-American theaters in Chicago. For example, the Vendome, featuring the orchestra ofErskine Tate, played music from this opera. Notably,Louis Armstrong performed and memorized the trumpet solo, coming out of the pit and mounting the stage to play it.[11]
| Role | Voice type | Premiere cast, 17 May 1890 Conductor:Leopoldo Mugnone |
|---|---|---|
| Santuzza,a peasant girl | soprano ormezzo-soprano[12] | Gemma Bellincioni |
| Turiddu,a young villager recently returned from the army | tenor | Roberto Stagno |
| Lucia,his mother | contralto | Federica Casali |
| Alfio,a carter | baritone | Gaudenzio Salassa |
| Lola,Alfio's wife | mezzo-soprano | Annetta Gulì |
Before the action takes place, the young villager Turiddu returns from military service to find out that his fiancée Lola had married the carter[14] Alfio while he was away. In revenge, Turiddu 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 asiciliana, "O Lola ch'ai di latti la cammisa" ("O Lola, you whose blouse is as white as milk," commonly rendered in English as "O Lola! like the snow, pure in thy whiteness!"). 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" (literally, "Oranges smell good on the green edges," rendered as "The air is sweet with orange blossoms" in the English libretto) and a hymn to theBlessed 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 ateamster's life and the beauty of Lola 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, "Inneggiamo, il Signor non è morto" ("Let us sing hymns, the Lord is not dead," or "We rejoice that our Saviour is living!" in the English version) 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" ("You well know") and tells Lucia the story of her seduction by Turiddu and his affair with Lola. Lucia pities Santuzza, who feels dishonoured, having been seduced by Turiddu only to be abandoned by him for his old flame, Lola. Santuzza feels she cannot enter the church, but begs Lucia to go inside herself and pray for her. Santuzza stays behind to try to plead with Turiddu to leave Lola and return to 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 takevendetta (revenge) which causes Santuzza to repent for having disclosed the affair and begs Alfio to stop, but to no avail.
The square is empty as the orchestra plays the famousIntermezzo.
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.
Mascagni calls for a standard-sized orchestra consisting of 2flutes, 2piccolos, 2oboes, 2clarinets, 2bassoons, 4horns, 2trumpets, 3trombones,tuba,timpani, percussion (triangle,cymbals,bass drum,side drum,tamtam,tubular bells), 2harps,organ andstrings.
There have been over 100 full-length recordings ofCavalleria rusticana published since it was first recorded in Germany in 1909.[15][16] As in live performances of the opera, recordings of the work have often been paired withRuggero Leoncavallo'sPagliacci. In addition to the original Italian, recordings of the work in the English, French, German, and Hungarian languages have been released.[17] Mascagni himself conducted the opera in two recordings, the better-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 withLina Bruna Rasa as Santuzza andBeniamino Gigli as Turiddu also has a spoken introduction by Mascagni. Originally released as on 78rpm discs, then an LP, it is available on CD under several historical recording labels.[18]
A double-bill performance ofCavalleria andPagliacci was transmitted as the first broadcast by New York City'sMetropolitan Opera on 11 December 1910.[19] Radio pioneerLee de Forest talkedGiulio 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 andEmmy Destinn were in the leading roles.[20]
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."[20]
In Los Angeles, an "Italian Night" concert was heard live "in its entirety" on May 6, 1930, as the third program of theAdohr opera series over radio stationKFI, featuring "A distinguished cast ... headed byLisa Roma, noted lyric soprano ... Music lovers should not fail to tune in."[21]
A notable use of the Intermezzo fromCavalleria 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 overDenver radio stationKOA, then owned and operated by theNBC network. It "was a 'feed' to the entire network from the KOA studios."[22]
Apart from video recordings of live performances, there have been several cinematic versions ofCavalleria rusticana, the most notable of which are:
Costumed excerpts from the opera are performed inMario Lanza's popular filmsThe Great Caruso (1951) andBecause You're Mine (1952). The opera's symphonic Intermezzo has figured in the soundtrack of several films, most notably in the opening and closing credits ofRaging Bull[23] and in the finale ofThe Godfather Part III, which also featured a performance of the opera as a key part of the film's climax.[24]
The melody of the Intermezzo became very popular and it was not long before an adaptation was made to convert it into an Ave Maria. The text, in Italian, was set to music by Piero Mazzoni as a solo for a tenor or a soprano, along with other languages.[25] Numerous arrangements and recordings were made, with highlights beingPlácido Domingo,Joyce DiDonato,Angela Gheorghiu,Elīna Garanča,Andrea Bocelli and others.
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