Cavalleria Rusticana (Rustic Chivalry), an opera in one act by Pietro Mascagni (1863-1945), was first performed on May 17, 1890, at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome. The libretto by Giovanni Targioni-Tozzetti and Guido Menasci was based on the play and short story of the same title by the Italian novelist Giovanni Verga.

The music publisher Sonzogno had offered a prize for the best one-act opera. Mascagni set to work writing Cavalleria Rusticana. When he presented it to the judges of the competition, he won the first prize. The opera was considered a great success at its first performance. None of Mascagni's subsequent operas enjoyed such success.

In the opera house, Cavalleria Rusticana is usually performed with another opera, most often Leoncavallo's Pagliacci.

A synopsis of the story of Cavalleria Rusticana can be found at http://www.operabase.com/cav/cav_synopsis.html

The libretto in Italian can be found at http://rick.stanford.edu/opera/Mascagni/Cavalleria/libretto.html

Cavalleria Rusticana in full score, amazon.co.uk

Cavalleria Rusticana on compact disc

Mascagni:  Cavalleria Rusticana, Souliotis, Del Monaco, Gobbi, Varviso, Decca CD, amazon.co.uk

Giuseppe Sinopoli & Philharmonia Orchestra - Mascagni: Cavalleria Rusticana (USA)
 

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